Katherine Spencer and the Original Prophecy
by Ur Gurl
Summary: ***Under Edit*** Katherine Spencer always believed that she was quite ordinary. Orphaned, but ordinary. But on one fateful night in the August of 1975, she discovers that a magical school for witches and wizards; Hogwarts, awaits her, as well as an evil wizard named Voldemort. [Slight AU to allow redemption arcs]
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Particularly Unexceptional

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K Rowling.**

 **{Edited on 16/08/2019}**

* * *

 _~ Final Chapter Sneak Peak ~_

 _In the end, they were all made of flesh that can be cut, and bones that can be broken._

 _She couldn't hear anything but the static in her head, and felt nothing but the numbness in her hands._

 _He was upon and around her quicker than she could blink; his chest safe and secure._

 _She had fulfilled her prophecy. She was done – free from her responsibility to the world. She could do anything. She could be anything._

 _But she so desperately just wanted to be his._

 _She closed her eyes and fell against him._

 _He held her up as she listened to his heart pounding through his shirt._

 _She knew everything was going to be okay. She had taken the long way around, but she was finally home to stay._

 _Through the dust clouds of collapsed castle – over the bodies of young and old alike; of friends and nameless faces, Katherine could see the sun shining on the Black Lake. The way it always had done._

 _It was the most beautiful summer's day._

* * *

Spencer. It was a perfectly normal last name. Quite unremarkable in London. Particularly unexceptional. As was fifteen-year-old Katherine, who shared it with her Aunt and Uncle that she lived with.

She didn't live with her parents, her Aunt and Uncle had told her that they had died in a fishing accident off the Isle of Wight when Katherine was four. And she had been sent to the middle of London to live with them. Not that it was often that she was actually _with_ them.

She went to a boarding school, St Mary's, for the school term, and then on the first day of summer holidays she was shipped off to a football camp in Manchester.

And camp was where she was returning from on the last day of August, walking through the bustling streets of London in the afternoon sun from Kings Cross Station.

The horns of cars, the two way foot traffic, and the blinking crossing signals – it was enough to disorientate anyone.

Katherine, however, had been doing it for years. Sometimes, she would have a trip without bumping a single shoulder. People always seemed to stumble out of her way at the very last minute.

A street shy of her house, Katherine overheard a peculiar conversation on the corner of Grimmauld Place.

"Muggles everywhere," sniffed a woman who, if not for her sour expression, would have been quite beautiful, "Can't even whip out my wand to fix my hair when the street's in such a state…"

"Mother, can I go to Dervish and Bangs while you go to the bank?"

An indifferent teenage boy stood beside her; dark haired and darkly clothed. He had posed his question in the same bored, aristocratic tone.

"I need a new telescope or else I'll struggle in astronomy this year."

Katherine briefly wondered what kind of school offered _astronomy_ …

"Why didn't you tell me when we went to Diagon Alley last week for the rest of your school things?" said the woman, exceptionally shrill, before sighing, "Never mind, you can get your telescope while I visit the vault,"

" _Not that you'd fail astronomy… half of your family's in the bleeding sky.._."

Katherine must have slowed down, entranced by the strange words exchanged between the woman in the blue box-pleat dress and her teenage son, because _she_ _knocked into someone_.

There was a flash of blond hair and Katherine turned around and caught the back of the man she had ran into.

His lithe, gold-topped figure loped away.

By the time Katherine turned back, the mother and son were gone.

Katherine continued on her way, wheeling her suitcase behind herself.

Tucked away in North-Western London, a twenty minute walk from King's Cross Station, lied Claremont Square.

Most of her neighbours were politicians, distantly descended from royalty, or old money.

Katherine didn't know if the Spencer family were old money. If they were, surely she would have eccentric bejewelled grandparents that would have come and swept her away for a life of being spoilt with love and affection by now.

She lived in Number Twenty Four.

It was a skinny townhouse, perfectly rectangular. And inside where the most square people Katherine had ever met.

She was often mistaken for being her Uncle's daughter. From what she understood, Henry Spencer was her father's older brother. They shared the same mousy shade of hair.

Katherine had never seen so much as a photograph of her father, but she assumed she got it from him.

Despite the absence of her parents, she had a good life. She felt, however, that something was missing; always.

The black spiked fences all began to blur together, Katherine indifferently watching the gold door numbers as she passed them.

 _21…22…23…_

It was as she put her key in the door, that a bicycle bell halted Katherine.

A dark-haired boy lazily zig-zagged down the street on a thin metal bicycle. He turned, as if sensing Katherine's gaze.

Neither could see the other clearly from their distance.

His dark head of hair disappeared around the block into the glare of the bright sunshine.

It was odd, Katherine was sure she had seen him before, _but she couldn't remember from where…_

Shaking her head, Katherine turned back and opened the door to Number 24. The door had barely clicked closed when Aunt Victoria's voice sounded.

"Katherine! Is that you?"

Katherine swiped a stray strand of hair from her face, "Yes, Aunt Victoria!"

"I've put some tea on!" Aunt Victoria continued to call, still not visible to Katherine, "Come back down after you put your things away!"

* * *

When dinner drew to a close later that night, their plates cleared of chicken and asparagus, Aunt Victoria daintily dabbed at her lips while catching Katherine's gaze.

"You're doing the dishes tonight, Katherine, don't forget."

"Yes, Aunt Victoria." said Katherine, promptly standing and clearing the table.

Filling the sink, Katherine sighed and mumbled under her breath, " _Sometimes I wish I could just say abracadabra and they'd be done…_ "

Uncle Henry cleared his throat and stood up.

"Dinner was lovely," said Uncle Henry with a hand on Victoria's shoulder, "I'm going upstairs to take a shower."

Their lack of touching didn't faze Katherine anymore. They weren't affectionate people. Katherine couldn't remember ever being hugged or having her hair stroked.

By the time Katherine finished the dishes, it was dark outside. Just before she set foot on the stairs to go up to her room, Victoria's voice rang through from the sitting room where the television was gently playing.

"Katherine, double check the post please!"

Katherine resisted a sigh, let her shoulders slump, and trudged to the front door.

There were no letters to be seen inside the mail slot on the floorboards, but Katherine opened the door in case a package was left on the doorstep.

It was when an early evening breeze rushed against Katherine's face that she felt it chill her to the bone.

The street looked as it had done for the past eleven years that Katherine had lived there, but it was strangely quiet, considering it's placement in the bustling section of the city.

Muffled voices and a brief flash of black preyed on Katherine's paranoia. There were always gangs around the city, and other shady characters to boot. The night wasn't a time to be outside in the street unless one was up to no good.

Katherine failed to see the sources of the muffled voices. Trying to calm herself, she only let herself think that one of her neighbours had someone visiting –

"Katherine,"

Katherine froze at her name before recognising Uncle Henry's voice.

"There's a pot of green powder on my desk, throw a handful of it into the fireplace and repeat what I am about to say very clearly,"

Henry's knuckles were white around the front door.

"Claremont is compromised, send the Order."

Katherine didn't question her Uncle, she never did – not aloud anyway, but his tone of voice indicated that this was even less of a time to ask if he'd taken a fall recently.

After a thick moment of silence, Katherine turned and took the stairs two at a time.

She had only ever been in Uncle Henry's office a handful of times over the years. It was on the third level of the townhouse, chosen to be out of the way as Uncle Henry worked late nights often.

Katherine burst through the door to the small red room and, sure enough, found a pot of green powder on his desk. She took a handful and then knelt by the fireplace. After only a split-second of indecision, Katherine threw the powder in.

The orange flames roared a brilliant emerald green.

Katherine put her dignity to one side and called into the fire, "Claremont is compromised, send the Order."

She waited, but nothing else happened.

Half-disappointed, Katherine made to re-join Uncle Henry at the front door.

* * *

The Cheshire countryside was green and quiet on the last night of August, all apart from the gentle pitter-patter of rain.

A Manor, set apart from the others and nearly a half-day's journey by car to the nearest village, was warmed by a sitting room fireplace.

A grandfather clock ticked softly, nowhere near the hour. There was a gentle scrape of paper as a page was turned. A plume of steam danced from a Chinese-patterned tea set, thick with expense.

The room didn't lose any of its warmth when the orange flames turned a brilliant green.

Dust rose from the floorboards at the volume of the voice that erupted from the fireplace, "Claremont is compromised, send the Order!"

The sole occupant winced, a porcelain teacup spilling onto a silk bathrobe.

" _Bugger!_ "

The man ceased his cleaning of his hot, sticky pyjamas at the face flickering in his fireplace. It was made up of familiar components…the eyes of her mother…the hair of her father…the worried crease he would have in his forehead…

A stick of Hornbeam wood was snatched from the coffee table, and the man flew out of the room.

 _She needed him._

* * *

Between Uncle Henry's office and the front door, a commotion erupted outside.

Her stomach swam away from her. Katherine almost fell down the stairs with her speed, flung open the front door, and found four cloaked figures advancing towards her front gate. The light from the street lamps glinted off their silver masks.

Panic rose in Katherine's throat. Her legs felt clumsy. Her hands, however, found the door frame; clinging to it.

Aunt Victoria stopped behind Katherine at the door, her lips trembling, "What's going on!?"

" _Avada Kedavara!_ "

Uncle Henry stepped back, splaying his arms to cover Aunt Victoria.

A green jet of light shot out of nowhere and Uncle Henry fell like a discarded doll.

The green ebbed around Katherine's vision. The words, so similar to the ones she had spoken at the sink, rang in her ears like a train whistle.

"No!" Victoria wailed thickly.

Katherine was pushed into the doorframe as her Aunt scrambled around her. Aunt Victoria, however, didn't make it to Uncle Henry; a second jet of light struck her on the front steps.

Hours might have passed as Katherine stared down at the two; her eyes keen for any movement.

The dishcloth was blown from Aunt Victoria's stiff shoulder, but her chest didn't rise.

It was then, unequivocally lost, that Katherine thought she might like to be struck by a jet of green light too.

" _MOSMORDE!_ "

The cloaked men had not stopped like her world had. One had a stick of wood pointed up at the sky. Another pulled up his sleeve.

Katherine shivered under the new green glow over the street. She looked past the street lamps to find a skull with a snake slithering out of its mouth. It was unlike fireworks; a permanent, ugly fixture against the night sky.

A flash of blond hair out of the corner of her eye, however, could not go unnoticed. More heads of hair followed; brown, black…

Not just green, but red, purple, and pink lights lit up the street.

A skirmish had broken out.

People not wearing masks or hoods had arrived in a flurry of soft _POP_ 's. Like… _magic_ …

"They've called him!"

A cloaked figure ran for Katherine, gloved-hand outstretched.

Katherine had the sense to stumble back– away. But her shoe caught on the uneven pavers and gravity pulled her to the ground. A pulsing, hot pain in her tailbone made her gasp.

The man was still advancing.

She used her hands to propel herself backwards, hoping… just hoping –

" _Petrificus Totalus!_ "

He halted suddenly, an ice-blue glow encapsulating him. With wild eyes and stiff lips, he fell onto her.

Katherine shrieked at the weight atop her; trapped. Vehemently, she pushed at the man. She even tried to roll out from underneath. But it was all at a loss.

Just when she was ready to accept being stuck there for the rest of the night, she was freed from the weight of the man. Katherine scrambled up in time to catch sight of a lithe, blond man leaping away with a stick in his hand.

She watched him while she crawled behind a rubbish bin for cover, as he came face to face with one of the silver-masked cloak wearers.

Katherine had to duck a purple jet of light; and it hit the rubbish bin, reducing it to dust. Katherine's stomach vanished along with her cover. On her hands and knees, keeping low; Katherine scrambled behind Mr Bennet's Volkswagen parked on the street.

Her eyes found the blond man and the cloaked man once again.

They both had their sticks of wood raised. But then they just _looked_ at one another. It was a long moment, considering that they were in the middle of a clash.

The rest of their respective comrades however, hadn't found reason to stop.

"How'd they find her!?"

"They saw him with her at Grimmauld Place!"

The blond man's face was imperceptible, but he stumbled back and into action at the yelled words of his comrades.

The cloaked man turned also, his eyes finding Katherine with unnerving speed. The lack of his identity, skewed by his silver mask, made Katherine sick with fright.

She ducked back behind the car, closed her eyes, and tried to breathe. But all that came out of her chest was a strained sound of resignation. She wanted to be anywhere but there, with her life hanging in the balance.

It was with her eyes closed, that she could only hear the fray continuing around her.

"Bloody hell!" a voice exclaimed, "When I get my hands on him when we're through here –"

An audible, sudden chill silenced the man and stalled the skirmish. It wrenched Katherine's eyes open with the peculiarity of it.

Both sides of the fight had stopped.

Looking around, she found that all eyes were on her. She realised far too late that they were not staring at _her_ , but at something _behind_ her.

She turned and found a sucking hole of flesh. And then it was on her.

She tried to pull her head back from the slurping flesh.

There was screaming, but it wasn't her own.

A warm hand closed around Katherine's arm; a semblance of normal temperature.

" _Expecto Patronum!_ "

Katherine opened her eyes in enough time to watch a cloaked creature be hurtled back by a ball of bright, white light. When it disappeared from sight, she turned her attention to her saviour.

The man was illuminated by the red and green burst of lights from the resumed skirmish.

The church clock around the corner started chiming loudly.

Katherine thought that such an ordinary sound had no business in such an extraordinary situation.

"He's coming!" a raven-haired man cried to his plain-clothed comrades.

Katherine's saviour scanned the fray around them with protruding brown eyes, the whites large. His mop of curls were permanently tousled in the constant rushes of air around them.

"You will incur the wrath of the Dark Lord for intervening here tonight!"

"Oh, piss off, Nott!"

 _Eight chimes…_

"Who…" Katherine's mouth was dry, "Who are you?"

 _Nine chimes…_

"Who's coming?" Katherine tried again.

The long sleeve of his black robe tickled her wrist as he pulled her tight against him without a word.

 _Ten chimes…_

The sensation of being squeezed through a tube overcame her abruptly; all air left her lungs and her shoe left her right foot.

 _Eleven chimes…_

And then, as quickly as the man had pulled her to him, she was on all fours; emptying her tea and biscuits into a bush conveniently at her feet. Eyes wet and face warm, Katherine wiped at her lips and looked around.

They were no longer on Claremont Square.

 _Twelve chimes…_

They hadn't missed a chime; and yet they were standing one block over in the nature reserve outside Grimmauld Place.

Katherine was vaguely aware of the man shucking off a robe and stowing it behind a bush.

"What…" Katherine's breath was still hard to come by, but she pointed back in the direction they came from, "What was – _that?_ "

"We apparated," he answered.

He did not meet her eye, instead vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

"Instantaneous teleportation."

Katherine shook her head at the nonsense, "Who are _you?_ "

He checked his watch.

"Felix Giles; Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he still didn't meet her eye, "You can call me _Giles_."

Katherine blinked once.

"Witchcraft and wizardry…" Katherine repeated, her tongue working around the foreign words, "Like, _magic?_ "

"Like magic," said Giles, with a tight smile that dropped quickly.

He poked his head out of the gate, unlatching it with his fingers as he watched the street.

"We need to call the police!" said Katherine. She looked down and instantly mourned her right shoe – alongside her relatives.

"We need to get walking."

* * *

The activity of the floo at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place had woken Sirius Black from the last sleep before Hogwarts.

The fact that the wards of the ancestral home of Black were blood-based, meant that every member inside the walls felt a faint rush in the veins of their forearms each time the threshold was breached. It was usually easily ignored, unless people flooded through _en masse_.

It was as he rubbed sleep from his eyes that he noticed it was freezing cold, and then remembered that it was still summer.

Pulling his pyjama set on over his underwear, he made his way to the window and rubbed a circle clear of an unseasonal frost.

He immediately jumped back with a shout.

A horde of black robed creatures swarmed down the street, skeletal claws outstretched. _Dementors_. One, however, had strayed from the pack and attached its fleshy mouth to the outside of his window.

Ears hot, and his neck throbbing uncomfortably with his racing pulse, Sirius could only watch as it pulled itself away – the window squelching like it had been suction cupped – and vanished over the top of Grimmauld place.

 _To Claremont Square_ , thought Sirius as he ran a hand through his hair and leant on his window pane.

From the confines on the sealed window, Sirius all but pressed his face against it to see more of the street below.

He was about to abandon his watch to stoke the fireplace at the foot of his bed when he saw it.

Two people _POPPED_ into the visible realm – right out the front of Number Twelve, in the nature strip.

At the blonde hair of the girl in the pair, Sirius' mind was cast back to his earlier passing of the girl on Claremont.

For as long as he could remember, he had come up with all sorts of fantastical excuses to go outside and sneak around the block to watch the muggle children. They all came and went over the years. Except for one.

He had once witnessed her kick her football an impossible distance – beyond retrieval – and wondered if, perhaps, she was like him – if she was a witch. A tall, severe woman had pulled her back into their house by the ear, reprimanding her.

He had felt a spark of kinship. He too was always getting in trouble for doing what he was not supposed to.

His first year of Hogwarts came, however, and she wasn't on the train.

It was as the pair moved out onto the street that Sirius realised that it _was_ her.

She limped; a shoe missing, her dress torn, and her hair a mess as she glanced over her shoulder.

 _She had just apparated_ , Sirius realised with a start, _or at least side-alonged_.

His heart endured another peculiar sensation as her eyes drifted curiously over his home. He had watched many others do the same, the miss-numbering usually drawing a second look.

 _She couldn't see it_ , he knew, but, it seemed, her eyes met his.

* * *

Giles strode quickly.

Katherine followed. After all, she had nowhere else to go. And he seemed safe. Her tentative trust of the man did not stop her from being suspicious about the lunacy he was sprouting about magic.

"Did you not hear me?" said Katherine, "We need to call the police! My Aunt and Uncle are… are…"

The night air made the word _'dead'_ harder to say.

Giles sighed and shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak, but sirens blared instead of his words.

At the edge of the pavement, Giles put out an arm.

Katherine's chest met with his elbow. _Better that_ , she mused, _than being run over_.

Numerous police and ambulances sped past and turned right onto Claremont Square, a block over from the edge of Grimmauld Place where she and Giles were halted.

"The muggle authorities will take care of your Aunt and Uncle," Giles said blankly, but then something flickered in his eyes.

He turned his head either way to watch the traffic before stepping off the gutter to cross the street.

Katherine hurriedly limped after him, torn between taking off her left shoe and wanting to keep at least one foot clean.

"And as for those who did it," Giles shook his head with bitter twist of his lips, "They won't end up in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?"

Giles tilted his head, hesitating. "The wizarding gaol."

"I've had a very long night, if you're having me on… I'll… I'll…" she lost her words as they stepped into the full light of a street lamp.

It was as if Al Pacino had stepped off of the screen at the theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue that Katherine had seen 'The Godfather' at. The light passed, the pair cast into shadows once more. And Giles was looking at Katherine in horror.

"Merlin," Giles breathed, big eyes unblinking, "Did Harry not teach you _anything?_ "

The fact that the man used such a fond nickname for her Uncle wasn't lost on Katherine. _No one_ called Uncle Henry ' _Harry_ '.

Giles blinked, once, twice… and then watched his path again, shaking his head and muttering " _Jealous squib…_ "

Katherine caught, yet another, unfamiliar word – and a strange error in the numbering of Grimmauld Place. There was no twelve. Just eleven, and then thirteen straight after… She had lived a street over for eleven years, and never noticed it on the numerous times she walked the street.

"Squib?"

Giles made a dismissive gesture with his hand, still looking ahead, "A non-magic person from a magic family."

He had spoken more quietly than before, most likely because of the busy main street they had just stepped onto from Grimmauld Place.

Scantily-clad girls stumbled arm-in-arm…groups of young men in bell bottom trousers swayed with bottles in hand, laughing at something escaping Katherine…neon lights consumed Katherine into something other worldly...

The brisk breeze and the eyes of leering men on her skin made Katherine cross her arms and walk closer to Giles.

Her saviour didn't seem all that concerned, his eyes ahead and his mind somewhere else entirely.

Katherine thought back on Giles' explanation.

If Uncle Henry knew about magic… that meant… it meant that her father was… was _magic_ – and perhaps her mother too. But… Katherine was completely ordinary. She had never done anything of sort she had seen that night, not even in her dizziest daydreams.

Katherine tucked her hair behind both of her ears and began wringing her hands. Her dirty, scuffed kitten heel gave her a limp– the other absent. She couldn't feel her feet carrying her.

"Are you sure I'm not one?" Katherine inclined her head, as to not let any passer-by's read her lips, "A squib."

"Very sure," said Giles, looking ahead.

Katherine's disbelief must have been loud on her face, even if she didn't voice it, because Giles glanced at her.

He looked back straight ahead, squinted, and then turned back to Katherine.

"Look," said Giles, his breath visible in front of his face, "Did you ever make anything happen?"

He glanced back forwards to watch his step.

"Something unable to be explained?"

Katherine frowned and shook her head, "Well, coincidences… coincidences happen to everyone."

Giles looked back at Katherine, his face caught in an unreadable expression.

"Not to you." said Giles firmly, a flicker of something passing through his large brown eyes.

His words, the familiarity he seemed to have with her, wasn't lost on Katherine.

"How is it that you know who I am?" Katherine finally asked, stepping around a fire hydrant.

Giles faced forward, "A story for another time."

Katherine halted everything; her thoughts, her feet…

She crossed her arms, "No."

Giles stopped and turned back, squinting.

A red light turned green behind him, casting a strong glow.

Katherine resisted a flinch.

"No?" Giles repeated, glancing around them.

People passing them were giving the pair strange looks.

Their curiosity was well-founded; Katherine had grazes and dirt all over, and Giles was wearing a full pin-stripe suit.

"You show up out of _nowhere_ – and just _kidnap_ me," Katherine whispered furiously, endeavouring to not be overheard, "I want to know _how_ you know who I am."

Katherine knew that she was acting like a petulant child. But she couldn't stop. And, with a heaving chest, she stared up at Giles.

He had stilled and stared back down at her. He didn't blink.

"Your parents didn't drown on a fishing trip," said Giles suddenly.

He sighed, looked either side of himself, and fixed Katherine with a tired look.

"They were murdered by the darkest wizard the world's seen," He paused, and then nodded down at her, "And now he's after you."

 _Murdered_. It was one thing to know that your parents had died, but… murdered?

"Why?"

Giles nodded his head forward in indication to keep walking, "That bit I don't know."

Katherine begrudgingly fell back into step with the man and thought quietly as she looked down at her crossed arms.

"Was it in the newspaper or something?" Katherine tried to catch his eye, "Is that how you know who I am?"

Something flickered in Giles eyes as he glanced at Katherine. After a moment, he nodded curtly.

Katherine turned away, recognising his reluctance on the subject, and mulled over everything that she had learnt.

In the space of a few short minutes she had lost her guardians, her normalcy, and her naivety.

Her eyes took in London; the way it always had been. The way that it had always been hiding another world just out of her peripheral vision.

 _But what was expected of her now?_

"I've got nowhere to go, where could we possibly be going?" Katherine asked, her curiosity rejuvenated, "They're expecting me at St Mary's tomorrow –"

"It's September first," Giles said with an incredulous glance at Katherine, "The train to Hogwarts leaves at eleven o'clock."

Katherine turned her mind back to him saying he was a Professor at this 'Hogwarts' place, _meaning that it was some kind of school…_

"You… you don't mean to say that I'm _going_ to this Hogwarts place?" Katherine all but spluttered.

Giles wasn't perturbed, his sights set on something up ahead.

"Castle," Giles corrected her casually, "And, _yes_ , I _do_."

"But I don't have any books or –"

"We are going to Diagon Alley first to get your school supplies." Giles stopped by a sign to the underground and glanced around.

Katherine stopped in front of him, her heel on the gutter, and resisted a laugh.

"Diagon Alley?" Katherine repeated, her tongue struggling around the foreign name, "We take the underground to this magical place?"

Giles almost looked amused.

"At –" Katherine checked her wristwatch –"one in the morning?"

Giles produced a stick of cherry wood; gleaming smooth apart from six rings at the base.

"Not the underground," said Giles, looking around with visible effort to appear inconspicuous, "This is just a clear spot to call the Knight Bus."

There was a thickness to the moment. A feeling of a joint between what Katherine had known up until that point and what was awaiting her. It was in the face of a new world that Katherine found herself clinging to her old one. She remembered her Aunt and Uncle, and felt instantly guilty.

"What about… what about their funerals… I…I can't just leave them there…" Katherine stammered, feeling her eyes burn.

Giles looked upon her with immediate understanding.

"And all of my things –"

Giles held out his right arm, the stick of wood in his hand, "Will be taken care of,"

There was a loud _BANG_ and then a midnight blue bus slowed against the curb.

Alarmed at the ear-splitting arrival, Katherine glanced around but found not an eye on them or the bus.

A man that strongly resembled a pipe cleaner with eyes moseyed up to the door from the inside and leant on the pole. He eyed a card in his hand with a bored expression.

"Welcome aboard the Knight Bus; emergency transportation for the stranded witch or wizard," he droned, sighing and blinking, "My name is Dave Jenkins and I will be your conductor this evening."

Dave Jenkins looked up, raised his eyebrows and waved an arm in indication that Katherine and Giles step aboard. He peered behind them all the while.

Giles stepped up, paused, and waved Katherine forward.

"No baggage this evening." said Giles as he turned back to Dave Jenkins.

Dave nodded and retreated into the bus, "Well, come on, then," he hit the back of the driver's box, "It's a busy night – Tuesday, you know?"

Giles turned back to Katherine once more, "What are you waiting for?"

Katherine didn't know. She couldn't go back to her house. She officially had no remaining family members that she knew of. If she didn't go with Giles, she had no way of knowing what would become of her.

So she steeled herself and lifted her bare foot onto the cool metal step first.

"Wait,"

Katherine halted, looking up at Giles questioningly.

Giles looked down at her remaining left shoe, "Will you kick that off already?"

Katherine hesitated, staring at the shoe she had worn numerous times over past years.

After a silent moment of bereavement, she swivelled her ankle up, stepped up onto the bus, and let the ivory suede slip into the gutter.

Dave pulled lightly on a crank that slammed the doors shut behind Katherine.

The lights of the city began to blur past sickeningly fast.

Katherine followed Giles' lead and sat in an armchair against the windows.

Dave was unfazed by the ludicrous speed and jarring turns that made Katherine's knees regularly hit Giles', and casually leant against the back of the Driver's box.

"Where are we going this evening, Sir?" Dave asked, righting his navy fiddler cap that neatly matched the rest of his uniform.

A particularly sharp turn in the middle of a busy intersection sent Katherine from her seat.

Before she could go headfirst into one of the occupied rolling beds, Giles' arm flashed out.

Katherine's collar bone met the back of his elbow unpleasantly.

"The Leaky Cauldron." said Giles, retracting his arm without so much as a glance to Katherine.

Katherine sat beside him, rubbing her chest for a moment, before looking around.

It was _real_. _Magic_ was _real_. And what was better? _Katherine_ was magical.

It made sense that magic folk had their own means of transportation, but Katherine was curious as to how it went undetected. She assumed they used spells of some kind, with their wands. Well, that's what Katherine assumed the sticks of wood she had seen firing jets of light all night were called.

She had seen magicians pull rabbits out of hats... cut people in half… use vanishing cabinets with what must have been imitations. Because surely that sort of magic was tomfoolery to people like Giles and Dave…

In the beds rolling around the open floor of the bus, were snoring men and women of varying ages and degrees of shabbiness. Katherine saw wands in hands and poking out from beneath pillows. One particularly shrivelled old woman, sleeping with boots and her hat on, snored so violently that gold sparks shot out from the end of her wand.

Smiling to herself, Katherine turned away, feeling somewhat ashamed for staring. Instead, she found her own reflection in the windows on the opposite side of the bus. The night sky made her stark against the smattering of rain drops and neon signs, and she frightened herself.

Her eyes were swollen and her hair was tangled, dirt and cuts peppering her skin.

It was then, in her first moment of calm for the night, that Katherine discreetly used her collar to dab at her eyes; feeling very silly for doing so. She hadn't even realised that she had been crying.

However, it seemed that Giles had, for he cleared his throat and tapped out a short tune on his knee.

Giles nodded at Katherine's bare feet, cold against the linoleum lining the bus floor, "Aren't you a bit young for those shoes you were wearing?"

"Aunt Victoria buys – _bought_ …" Katherine took a deep breath before finishing her answer, "She bought me the same things she wore."

"Since you were four?" Giles asked, his face screwed up.

Katherine pushed away her curiosity at his knowing of the age she was when her parents died. _It was probably in the newspaper_ , she reminded herself.

"Just about," Katherine slowly smiled, and stiffened her posture for show, "We Spencers have a reputation to uphold."

High teas, gala's, and grand openings were what Katherine had been raised around. She had learnt the language of flowers, how to hold a fan, and possessed a practiced hand for pouring tea.

Giles blinked strangely, his throat bobbing.

Katherine frowned, relaxing into a more natural position that would give her Aunt an aneurism, "What?"

"It's nothing." said Giles lightly, shaking his head gently. His eyes took on a distant glint.

Katherine looked down at her hands that she wrung in her lap, waiting for the weird air to pass from between them.

"How do know my Uncle?" Katherine finally asked.

Giles took a long breath and watched a bed almost collapse in front of them, "I lived next door to him for a time."

"You lived on Claremont?" Katherine asked, stunned that she hadn't ever noticed him.

Giles shook his head, his lips pursed.

"I lived next door to your grandparents."

Katherine's mind positively hummed with questions at his casually thrown words.

"Did you know my father?" Katherine asked, bobbing in her seat.

Giles gave a curt nod, his eyes firmly on the window, "I'm sure you've heard all about him from your Uncle."

"No, actually," she said quietly, shrugging and tucking her hair behind both of her ears, "I haven't."

Giles' eyes slid back to her –

"Leaky Cauldron, Stoney Street!"

Katherine didn't believe that they could have arrived at their destination so quickly. The bus was still hurtling along at sickening speed.

A long and loud _SCREECH_ made Katherine grip the arms of her chair. She knew better than to assume the bus would stop like a normal bus.

And it didn't. If Giles hadn't clawed his hands into the arms of his chair, he would have knocked his head into the back of the driver's box.

The rolling beds bunched together at the front of the bus, slowly rolling back from the sudden lurch.

Giles gripped Katherine's elbow and led her from the bus, giving a rushed 'thank you' and 'goodbye' to Dave Jenkins.

They succumbed to the crisp night air once again.

The pavement was wet and rough beneath Katherine's bare feet, and the breeze went straight through her blouse.

"Take her away –" was the last thing Katherine heard from Dave Jenkins before the bus disappeared as quickly as it had arrived for them. Another deafening _BANG_ echoed around the street long after it had left Katherine's sight.

Giles' hand around her elbow pulled Katherine out of her reverie and through a black door.

Loud chatter and the clinking of tankards contrasted the quiet street they had stepped in from. A short bar had labels on the taps such as 'Butterbeer', 'Elven wine' and 'Ogden's firewhiskey', brands Katherine had never seen.

The next thing that drew Katherine's eye was the over-sized fireplace that people were stepping in and out of, barely grazing their heads. Before they could be burned by the orange flames, they threw in powder that turned them green –

"Leave enough floo powder for the rest of us, Fawley." a stocky man grumbled at a lamp-post-thin man with a dripping fistful of green powder.

Giles guided Katherine to a stop at bar and leant over it to call over the bartender. But Katherine's eyes were stuck on the fireplace. It was like her Uncle's. He really _had_ known about magic… always linked to it without her or Aunt Victoria being any wiser…

The swaying men, dressed in floor length robes that looked very alike to dresses, disappeared into the green flames.

No one seemed as alarmed as Katherine at the development. _It must have been normal to travel by fire in the magic world_ , Katherine thought to herself.

"Tom," said Giles, finally catching the attention of the balding man behind the taps, "A room please."

Tom slapped down a tankard of frothing gold liquid and accepted thrown gold coins before he produced a key, sliding it across the bar to Giles.

"Aye, Felix," said Tom, his eyes and mind elsewhere, "Room number seven."

Giles made a fist around the key and used his other hand to pull on Katherine's elbow once more.

They had to navigate around cluster of small round tables and one long galley before they reached the staircase. They went up without pause, the sound of chatter and clanking cutlery settling beneath them the higher they went.

In the upstairs hallway, a new noise presented itself. A train shook the windows, screaming along below Katherine's feet. Dust lifted from between the floorboards and Katherine resisted a grimace.

The doors were a dark green with peeling gold numbers. Number seven was nearing the end of the hallway on the left. The small bronze key revealed a shoebox room with one bed and a threadbare rug.

Giles shuffled in past Katherine and went straight to the small fireplace, squatting by it. His back hid most of what he was doing, but when a sudden warmth spread through the room, Katherine didn't need to see the flames flickering out of his wand tip.

Katherine, unsure of what to do, padded over to the rain-dotted window.

"Go ahead and sleep,"

Giles' voice turned Katherine around, her hands gripping her upper arms.

He stood half stiff and half relaxed, his hair tickling against his forehead which gave away that it hadn't been an easy night for the pair.

Giles rubbed one eye to the point of exploding it in his eye socket, "I've got to contact everyone involved in extracting you tonight…"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 2: The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black (preview) ~*_

 _Visions of being chased by hordes of riderless brooms in pursuit of a soaring sticky date pudding quickly left Regulus and his eyes snapped open._

 _Eyes the size of tennis balls watered behind a handheld candle, floppy bat-like ears twitching at his attention._

 _At the sight of his House Elf, Regulus fell back into his pillows and scrubbed at his sleep-crusted eyes, "What is it, Kreacher?"_

 _Kreacher's spindly legs, less than a foot long, bent into his re-purposed pillowcase as he shuffled his feet._

" _Mistress is needing you downstairs – dressed."_

 _Regulus noted that it was still the dead of night._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K Rowling.**

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **{Edited on 17/08/2019}**

* * *

Claremont Square had been reclaimed by a normal chain of events once deserted by cloaks.

Mr Bennet of Number Twenty-three had promptly called the police after he peered out of his shutters to find the street vacated by the noisy strangers, and then an ambulance when he saw two of the Spencer's strewn across their front steps – motionless.

"Cause of death?" asked the senior officer of the seven that had been called to the scene.

The greying paramedic shook his head and looked up at the officer from where he crouched by Henry Spencer.

"We don't know, look –" the paramedic turned back to the body and took great care to not touch the ashen skin as he pointed "– not a mark on him."

The officer scratched his whiskered chin with the end of his pen, waving his notepad as he shrugged, "Poison?"

"There would have been signs of poison on his tongue, which we didn't find," the paramedic pushed up off his haunches and frowned down at Henry Spencer, "As far as I'm concerned, Mister Spencer is in perfect health… despite the fact that he's dead."

Baffled as though they were, the paramedics eventually did their job and took away the body–the sirens and lights with them – and Number Twenty-Four Claremont Square slipped into an undisturbed slumber behind its black gate.

One block over, in the supposedly non-existent Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, the left downstairs window was a beacon in the dark night, and completely invisible to those unaware of the bewitchments that laid beyond the front gate.

Upstairs, the youngest occupant of Number Twelve rolled over, his naked torso swathed in moonlight. The downstairs light couldn't be farther from his dream-filled sleep, nor could the sounds of the earlier skirmish that didn't so much as stir an eye-lid flutter from the boy.

He had only returned through his fireplace from France the day before.

There was a soft _POP_ from the corner of the room and then a strange shadow swayed over his alabaster skin. Frowning, the boy shifted once again in his sleep, but found the shadow to be endless.

"Master Regulus,"

An incredibly small leathery hand gripped his upper arm, unable to close around it.

"Please, sir, I insist that you wake…"

Visions of being chased by hordes of riderless brooms in pursuit of a soaring sticky date pudding quickly left Regulus and his eyes snapped open.

Eyes the size of tennis balls watered behind a handheld candle, floppy bat-like ears twitching at his attention.

At the sight of his House Elf, Regulus fell back into his pillows and scrubbed at his sleep-crusted eyes, "What is it, Kreacher?"

Kreacher's spindly legs, less than a foot long, bent into his re-purposed pillowcase as he shuffled his feet.

"Mistress is needing you downstairs – _dressed_." said Kreacher, turning and clicking his fingers.

At the bequest of Kreacher's magic, Regulus' dresser drawers shot open. All the fixings of one of Regulus' most formal suits arranged themselves mid-air.

Regulus swivelled his legs over the side of his bed and stood on the cold floorboards; snagging his items of clothing out of the air, "Are there people here, Kreacher?"

Kreacher's over-sized head bobbed up and down, but his large eyes turned away from the light of the candle.

"Yes, Master Regulus," said Kreacher quietly, his eyes on the door, "And they are not patient this evening."

Regulus slipped his arms into his button up shirt and snagged his trousers next, his belt already threaded through the loops.

"Well, go on, get Sirius up too," said Regulus, breathless as he hurriedly poked one leg through his trousers, "You know what he's like…"

"Kreacher is under strict instructions to only wake the youngest Black," said Kreacher, more quietly and assessing the flame of the candle, "Kreacher will see Master Regulus downstairs."

Kreacher disappeared with a _POP_.

Regulus gulped – one leg in his trousers and his shirt unbuttoned – and paused for longer than he usually would have had his mother requested his presence. But, as if to make up time, once he composed himself he dressed in a hurry and smoothed his hair on his way out the door.

"Whatever they want you to do, don't do it."

Regulus turned and squinted against the thick darkness for the source of the familiar voice. His young vision easily found the tall figure that had stepped into the light from a bedroom further down.

There were still light marks on the floorboards from when his older brother had brought his bicycle back through the house; marks that led to the boy barely older than Regulus.

"Sirius?" Regulus whispered down the hallway, shaking his head and turning to leave "I have to go, mother's asked for me."

"Don't let her ask too much of you, Reg."

Regulus halted once more and turned his head, his eyes on the portrait of one of his many Great Uncle's instead of his older brother.

Only Sirius and Regulus knew that the portrait concealed a sizable dent in the mahogany panelling; a result of Sirius barging Regulus into the wall on their toy brooms to stop Regulus going off the staircase (toy brooms stopped working if they went any further than two feet off the ground). A five-year-old Sirius took the fall down the stairs himself instead.

Regulus supposed that his older brother was a Gryffindor before either knew what it meant. Four-year-old Regulus had convinced Kreacher to re-wrap the early-opened Christmas presents before Walburga and Orion came home and thought of a quick lie to explain Sirius' bruises.

Walburga had coddled the bruised and mildly concussed Sirius, something of a distant memory to both boys, and her first born son was back to full health by dinner.

No one had noticed the moved floor-length painting; there were so many, it was impossible to keep track of them all.

That was before Hogwarts; when red and green were just colours.

That was before Hogwarts; when a bruise on Sirius could never go unnoticed.

"There's no such thing – _now_ –" Regulus tightened his silk cravat beneath his collar, his back to Sirius "–if you'll excuse me, I have to go represent the House of Black–"

"Because I won't."

Regulus whipped around at break-neck speed.

The truth of the statement didn't need to be reinforced by a response; it left something tangible rising up between the brothers, parting them onto different sides of the hallway.

That dent in the wall was before Hogwarts; when Sirius started taking falls for James Potter instead.

"You've made your views quite clear, and they do not align with the cause," said Regulus, clearing his throat and blinking slowly, "It would be frivolous to continue trying to make you see the light even if you do continue to live under this roof."

Sirius snorted softly and crossed his arms in the moonlight.

Regulus pursed his lips and made to turn for the last time.

"The last button of your vest is undone, Reg," said Sirius, quietly, one hand on his door frame, "Look sharp, little brother."

Regulus looked down and, lo and behold, it _was_ undone. Frowning, he deftly wove the button into the embroidered opening in the fabric, and continued on. He heard Sirius' door click closed as he reached the staircase.

He didn't remember there being so many steps. Just when he thought he was near the bottom, more seemed to pop out.

Walburga Black was pacing outside the door to the ground floor sitting room, her eyes on the family portrait opposite the troll umbrella stand. They only lifted – wide and glinting – when Regulus' shoes made contact with the floorboards of the entrance hall. Panic pulled at his mother's uncharacteristic smile, lit by the sliver of golden light leaking out from the cracked open door.

The only witch who could give Walburga a run for her money when it came to sternness was Professor McGonagall. So a smile was more unnerving than comforting.

"Regulus, my dear –" her dainty hand found his shoulder, and she steered him to the sitting room door "– through here."

The door was yanked open from the inside, and cascades of black curls greeted him; Bellatrix.

He was suddenly struck by how alike his family all looked; tall, pale, and dark-haired…

Regulus thought that her smile was a little too wide considering that the sun hadn't risen yet. And, because of his slowly lifting haze of sleep, he didn't take notice of the glint in her eyes right away.

"It's _him_ ," Bellatrix whispered, trembling with excitement, "We have been honoured with his presence here tonight, dear cousin."

"That's enough, Bellatrix." said Walburga with quiet shrill.

Regulus desperately wanted to be in his be back in his bed but instead felt himself thrust forward into the firelight; like a precious heirloom to be appraised. But, even by the hearth, he had never felt colder.

The emerald glow of the fireplace settled oppressively over the room, the door clicked closed and the house no longer felt like his own.

The conversation – if it could be classed as such – with Sirius upstairs felt like it could have taken place years ago. It seemed, to Regulus, very strange that something of the like could carry out just metres of wood away from his blood-traitor brother. _If he only knew…_

A man, barely still able to be considered that, stood like a revered gold statue amongst a motley handful of his followers.

Regulus was burdened by the unfortunate affliction of being related to some of them, but not to the man that had blood-stained eyes and waxy, bone-white skin. Regulus would say he looked sick if it wasn't for how simultaneously terrifying he was.

He had never met the man, but there was only one person he could be.

"Regulus Black," his voice was high and cold, "It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

Regulus took a surreptitious glance behind Voldemort to his cousin and parents. They were nodding with white lips to urge him on, their eyes widening with every second that passed.

Regulus bowed his head and used his most sub-servant tone, "My Lord."

Regulus' skin prickled and he became acutely aware of everyone in the room; every twitch of a hand, every shuffle of a foot, every sideways glance…

There were only three people in the room looking at him; his father, his mother, and Voldemort. He couldn't conjure up a more intimidating trio.

Bellatrix was raptly gazing at Voldemort while her husband looked out the window into the street.

Malfoy had his eyes low, on the fireplace, unwilling to look at his fellow Hogwarts student.

There were absentees, of course; _Nott, Bulstrode…_

"Yes… yes, he will do well…"

Regulus felt a spark of indignity deep in his gut.

The Blacks were a proud family; rightfully so with the oldest traceable ancestry of any pureblood family in Europe. And to have to bow down to anyone was an incredible sacrifice, and it preyed on the infamous temper of a Black; a product of their habit of marrying their cousins.

"I told you so, my Lord." said Bellatrix eagerly, her eyes flashing between Voldemort and Regulus.

"You truly are a credit to my ranks, Bellatrix," said Voldemort smoothly, and upon seeing her husband's stiff posture, he also placated him with a gracious wave of his hand, "And, of course, your husband, Rodolphus."

Rodolphus nodded once, visibly honoured but still flaming with jealously behind his shadowed, beady eyes.

" _Tell him_." rasped Bellatrix, her large black eyes glittering in the green firelight.

Bellatrix was simpering against the side of Voldemort's robes, unable to get closer even if she tried.

Voldemort's lips were twisted in mingled annoyance and resigned acceptance at the young woman's behaviour. Nevertheless, Voldemort stepped away, pulling his robes form beneath Bellatrix's boots and almost tripping her, and began pacing in front of the fireplace.

"Regulus Black, you have been given great recommendation to join our ranks… glowing testimonies indeed…"

Regulus couldn't decide if he were terrified or gratified.

"You are, unfortunately –"

Regulus held his breath

"– too young to take the mark,"

The prospect of the whole situation suddenly felt a lot brighter, the air lighter to breathe –

"But, an unfortunate setback has occurred this evening… a girl; Katherine Spencer, has thwarted me now twice – a girl of fifteen years of age – a girl that will be arriving at Hogwarts later today,"

Voldemort's eyes landed pointedly on Regulus. He ceased his pacing.

" _You_ will _also_ be arriving at Hogwarts later today, Regulus Black, and it is most opportune that this will be, because I would like to offer you a chance to help me in my quest to bring stability to our world that is in chaos… to tilt the scales favourably for us all,"

Regulus had the impression that this was an offer that could not be refused.

"You will have help from young Mister Malfoy and your cousin; the lovely Narcissa, of course…"

Voldemort held out a long, waxy arm that glowed with the tell-tale precursor of an Unbreakable Vow.

"What do you say, Regulus?"

' _No'_ rebounded around his skull on repeat, his instincts loud and sharp. But everyone was leering expectantly. So Regulus endeavoured to conceal his apprehensiveness as he took Voldemort's long, spidery hand.

There was a thickness to the moment, and Regulus' mind was anywhere but on the Unbreakable Vow. He nodded when he needed to and said "I will" at the right time, but he had the niggling feeling that this was all that he had been raised for – what he had been waiting for.

 _It should have been Sirius_ – he was the oldest; the heir.

The glow vanished from around their hands.

Voldemort promptly dropped Regulus' hand, cast a long look at Kreacher, and slipped through the floo.

Everyone else said their goodbyes and vanished through the emerald flames of the fireplace to some other place.

"Go back upstairs, Regulus." said Walburga, after everyone had left.

Regulus nodded and made for the door. It was when he went to close it behind himself that he managed to look his parents in the face.

His father had never avoided eye contact so much.

His mother had never looked prouder.

Regulus' feet carried him upstairs to his bedroom. He took off his suit, laid down on his bed, and didn't sleep.

At around four in the morning, Kreacher had appeared with hot chocolate and vanished just as quickly. Two hours later, the sound of Sirius using the bathroom and clanking his trunk around almost lulled Regulus off to sleep – _almost_.

At seven, Regulus rose from his bed and dressed in clothes suitable for the muggle world before journeying downstairs to the kitchen.

Sirius and their mother were pretending the other didn't exist while being tensely conscious of exactly where the other person was.

Sirius drank deeply from a cup of tea.

Walburga was in the middle of giving Kreacher his orders between letters she was writing to her circle of ladies.

Once he sat down, Regulus was acutely aware of Sirius sneaking peeks at his left forearm, no matter how deft Sirius was at being discreet. When Regulus rolled up his sleeves before reading the _Daily Prophet_ , giving Sirius a good look at his unblemished left forearm, the room rose a few degrees.

"Come on, Reg," said Sirius as he quickly sunk the last few drops of his tea, "We best get a move on."

"I wish you'd cut it before you go," Walburga said out of the blue, her steely gaze intent on Sirius' hair, "It's getting silly, Sirius."

Sirius paused, deathly still, and took one look at Regulus – his face twisted with mirth – before looking back to their mother.

"No, thanks."

Sirius escaped easily, but Regulus was trapped by Walburga clawing into his shoulder with her deceptively delicate hand.

She neatened his hair and cupped his cheek before sending him on his way, "My son…" she said reverently in farewell.

"I'll owl."

Regulus hoped she didn't hear how hollow the words felt.

The entire walk to Kings Cross Station – and through Sirius' riveting rendition of _'I spy, with my little eye, a muggle…'_ – Regulus wondered how a fifteen year old girl was a threat to the most accomplished dark wizard this half of the century...

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 3: Diagon Alley (preview) ~*_

" _Oh, look – she seems about your age! Do you know her?"_

 _Lily recognised the attempt to broaden her friendship circle. But she looked up anyway._

" _No…actually," said Lily, truthfully, "I've never seen her before."_

 _A girl, not unsimilar to height to Lily, stood by the display of kittens. She bore freckles and an incredible resemblance to the character Miranda from the film Picnic at Hanging Rock that Lily had seen at the theatre over the summer with her sister._

 _If it weren't for her blonde hair and freckles, Lily thought she might be a relative of the Black family. She wore robes so nice that they looked new, her hair was neat and shiny, and her carefully blank expression could only be the result of being well-bred._

 _Lily was reminded of a certain male member of Gryffindor house and then was reminded of her manners too when the girl looked up and found herself under Lily's gaze._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Diagon Alley

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K Rowling.**

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **{Edited on 12/09/2019}**

* * *

The brick courtyard behind the leaky cauldron was completely plain and ordinary.

 _Until_ there was a sternum-thumping rumble, and the bricks began shuffling out of their mortar. They formed an archway to a bustling alley of shopfronts that Katherine had never seen before.

"Diagon Alley." said Giles, looking around casually at the things that made Katherine gawk.

In a daze, she followed him through the archway which promptly closed behind them, and they began to stroll down the alley.

Women and men were passing them in an eclectic range of garb; full cloaks, mismatched suits, 1920's centric gowns, and there were a small few that Katherine supposed wouldn't look out of place on Carnaby Street.

But Katherine was less interested in them when she saw the stalls and shopfronts.

 _Slug and Jiggers Apothecary_ had signs boasting half price bat's spleen and freshly pickled toads.

 _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ had a bright light beaming down on a broomstick, glittering letters claiming that the shop housed the 'newest and fastest racing broom to sweep the market'.

 _Potage's Cauldron Shop_ apparently had 'everything from pewter to gold'.

A few stalls down was _Magical Menagerie_ ; a pet shop unlike Katherine had ever seen before. There were owls, rats, toads, cats, and a breed that resembled a cat that had run at a brick wall.

 _Gambol and Japes_ was overflowing with trick wands, Katherine watching a brother and sister go from fencing with licorice to gripping the necks of rubber chickens.

Further down was _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_ ; one shop that didn't completely take Katherine by surprise, and – for that reason – she longed to taste something familiar.

 _Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment_ came next, Giles not slowing for a cool, sweet treat.

And then… _Dervish and Bangs_.

It was the shop that the boy on Grimmauld had mentioned to his mother. And, looking closer, Katherine saw telescopes among many other items – usual and most unusual things in the same cramped space.

Katherine glanced at the equipment list in her hand and felt uneasy.

"Giles," said Katherine quietly.

But he hadn't heard, he was watching the exit to a cobblestone street. A sign hung, albeit barely, marking it as ' _Knockturn Alley_ '.

"Giles!" Katherine tried louder.

A flurry of blinks and a clearing of his throat later, and Giles met Katherine's eyes calmly, "Yes?"

She had never been in such a predicament before. Her Aunt and Uncle had always taken care of things… and they were very well off.

On her own, however, Katherine had nothing.

Katherine suddenly felt very small.

"I don't…I don't have any money."

Giles wasn't nearly as affected.

"Gringotts is the wizarding bank," he said, pointing ahead, "Your parents have a vault."

"A vault?"

"I took the liberty of making a visit before you woke this morning," said Giles, producing a bulging velvet sack, "Galleons are the gold ones, Sickles the silver, and Knuts the bronze."

Giles nodded in indication they begin walking again.

"At Hogwarts you are allowed to bring a pet, as I am sure you remember from your letter this morning," said Giles. He pointed to a shop where an old lady was sweeping owl droppings from the cobblestones, "Pick one out from the menagerie and I will meet you back here at Nine-forty to complete the rest of your shopping."

He checked his fog watch and then loped off towards the crooked sign that marked an off-shooting street as _Knockturn Alley_.

Katherine sighed at his abrupt nature as she crossed the bustling alley and entered the belled entrance of the Magical Menagerie.

* * *

"I can't believe it – my daughter, a _prefect!_ " Rose Evans exclaimed with an affectionate clasp of her youngest daughter's shoulder, "Something I can finally tell Martha next door!"

Her youngest daughter smiled apologetically at an eagle-hatted witch outside of _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_ who had jumped at the exclamation. A sullen expression replaced it shortly once she and her mother had scooted past.

"I really wish we could have brought Sev…"

A pause struck up after her words.

"Your father doesn't like him coming around the house, Lily" the mother eyed her daughter sideways, uncomfortably, "And I'm inclined to agree with him."

"He didn't break Tuney's arm, Mum," said Lily, trailing behind her mother with the most pleading of expressions, "It was an accident."

Her mother's hand on her arm pulled her to a stop outside their destination, and her stern expression brought an end to Lily's petulance.

"He wanted to though, didn't he?" Rose's eyes were imploring as she gazed down at her daughter, "Accidental magical has to have intent behind it – that's what that Professor said when she came to the house all those years ago."

Lily shifted and looked around at the witches and wizards bustling past, "Well…yes…"

"If someone wishes harm on those you love, they don't care very much for you then, do they?"

The words met a barrier in Lily's mind, unable to be accepted.

"Petunia was being rotten to him."

Her mother simply opened the door to the animal filled space and said over her shoulder, "He's been nothing but rotten to her."

"It's just because she's a muggle." said Lily, stepping through.

The bell sounded again as the door clamped closed behind the two.

"Then what does he think of me? Your father? Where you come from?" said her mother, absentmindedly, as she browsed the pets on display.

Lily didn't have a thing to say to that. She knew exactly what Severus Snape thought of her whole family, but she thought she could change his opinion with time. She was _sure_ she could.

She pondered on that thought while she slowly walked the perimeter of the shop.

Her mother, however, seemed to have been browsing more than the animals.

"Oh, look – she seems about your age! Do you know her?"

Lily recognised the attempt to broaden her friendship circle. But she looked up anyway.

"No…actually," said Lily, truthfully, "I've never seen her before."

A girl, not unsimilar to height to Lily, stood by the display of kittens. She bore freckles and an incredible resemblance to the character _Miranda_ from the film _Picnic at Hanging Rock_ that Lily had seen at the theatre over the summer with her sister.

If it weren't for her blonde hair and freckles, Lily thought she might be a relative of the Black family. She wore robes so nice that they looked new, her hair was neat and shiny, and her carefully blank expression could only be the result of being well-bred.

Lily was reminded of a certain male member of Gryffindor house and then was reminded of her manners too when the girl looked up and found herself under Lily's gaze.

"Oh, hello." The girl's voice rang like a bell alongside her expression of delighted surprise.

"Hello," said Lily, trying for a friendly smile, "Are you getting a pet for school?"

The girl nodded and smiled serenely, "Yes, I start Hogwarts today."

"Oh – I go there!" said Lily, stepping up to the kitten enclosure to converse more easily, "Which year?"

"I'm starting my fifth year."

"That's my year!" Lily realised, before realising something immediately, "You must be new."

The girl fidgeted with her cuffs, her elegant hands on display.

Lily resisted hiding her paint-chipped nails self-consciously.

"Yes… I, er," The girl hesitated, and lowered her voice – and her head, "Thought I was a muggle up until last night. A professor came and found me."

"Really? They usually send a professor when you turn eleven – before the beginning of first year…" said Lily, making a mental note to ask McGonagall about the girl.

A beat of silence passed, one too long to be comfortable.

"Where are my manners?" said Lily, remembering herself and extending a hand, "Lily Evans."

An easy film fell over the interaction.

"Katherine," said the girl with a ready smile, shaking Lily's hand, "Katherine Spencer."

A memory rang through Lily's mind of the business district in London, "Like that big shot lawyer in London?"

"My Uncle," said Katherine, shortly.

Katherine Spencer, for the first time, closed off. She turned away too, to peruse the kittens.

"I'm very lost on what kind of pet I should take," she said, turning back to Lily with a new smile, "You know the school – what kind of pet do you have?"

"I just got made prefect over the holidays, so Mum is actually getting me my first pet today." revealed Lily, turning her own eyes to the animals.

"Oh – me too!" said Katherine, excitably, before clearing her throat, "I mean…at my old school I was one…"

Lily nodded, and pointed toward the front of the store, "Owls are very practical, sending letters home and all…"

Katherine's eyes lit up with delighted confusion.

"Owls send letters?"

A _MEOW_ drew both girls' attention back to the kittens, where one pure white one with green eyes brushed against Katherine.

"Oh, hello, aren't you gorgeous?" said Katherine, in a higher pitched voice, petting the kitten – only for another one, a tabby cat with a paler shade of green eyes to begin brushing up against her too, "And you too!"

"I'm afraid those two will have to be sold together, Miss," said the shopkeeper, leaning over the bench on his elbows, "They're the last two of the litter – they've scratched up customers that have tried to separate them."

Katherine sighed, "But I can only take one pet to Hogwarts…"

She continued to pet the white cat, but the tabby cat had wondered over to Lily.

"It looks like that one's taking a shining to you." said Katherine, nodding to Lily.

The tabby cat purred under Lily's hands, and she was struck with an idea.

"They'd probably see each other at the castle," said Lily, turning to the shopkeeper, "Would that be good enough for you, sir?"

He shrugged, "Sure, I was starting to get desperate for space in here anyway –" he took down the sign advertising them, "Sold."

The girls passed over fifteen galleons each for their pets, their carriers, and a small supply of food to start.

"What are you going to name him?" asked Katherine, as the girls poked fingers into the front grates of the cats' carriers.

"Marbles," said Lily, smiling when the kitten swatted at her finger, "I have a set at home with a pattern just like his fur. And you?"

Katherine observed her kitten before saying firmly, "Belle."

"Like sleeping beauty?" asked Lily.

Katherine shook her head, "It means 'beautiful' in French."

"You speak French?"

Lily would have been even more convinced she was a Black relative if she hadn't known her story of only discovering magic the previous night.

Katherine waved a listless hand through the air, "It's compulsory at St Mary's."

"We were going to send Lily there,"

Lily and Katherine turned to find the approaching kind green eyes of Rose Evans.

She smiled warmly at Katherine, "I'm Rose, Lily's Mum."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Evans." said Katherine, inclining her head.

"Oh, I like you," said Rose with a good-natured laugh, "Are you muggleborn like our Lily?"

A figure blocked the sun streaming in from the alley.

"Mudbloods do tend to herd together, don't they?"

The snarky comment belonged to a tall brown-haired girl with a prominent widow's peak that lined up with her buttoned lips.

"I wonder how many it would take together to do one decent spell?" her voice was high and cold.

Lily trembled with rage, stepping in front of her Mother and Katherine.

"Say it again at Hogwarts, Greengrass," said Lily, keeping her voice low and measured, "Slytherin will be in the negatives before the first day."

"You get a badge and you've let your insolence get out of check," said Greengrass with a sneer. She then turned her haughty expression on Katherine, "And you – who are you?"

Lily interjected, "That's Spencer – and she's not your new –"

"Katherine Spencer?"

Greengrass transformed before them. Her mean demeanour evaporated, seemingly, with the change in the wind, and she held out a hand to Katherine.

"Griselda Greengrass."

Katherine didn't hold out her own hand.

Lily floundered, at a loss, "How'd you…"

"Your dirty blood is showing, Evans," said Greengrass with a roll of her eyes, "She's _famous_."

Katherine crossed her arms, "I hardly think so."

Greengrass surveyed Katherine head to toe, before leaning in and gesturing between her and Lily.

"At Hogwarts you should split from this one," said Greengrass, with a jerked thumb in Lily's direction.

Rose gasped.

Greengrass wasn't perturbed, and continued, "You would be most welcome with me and my friends, you know…people of your station."

Lily fell back to her mother's side, taking her arm to pull her away. She recognised that there would be no sense in Katherine refusing Greengrasses offer.

"No, thanks,"

The words made Lily stop in her tracks.

Katherine smiled obliviously, and continued.

"I prefer Lily."

The end of her sentence coincided with the sudden springing open of Katherine's cat carrier.

Belle skulked out and sniffed around a shell-shocked Greengrass' robes, before squatting and urinating on the gold trim.

Greengrass' face became one of utter disgust, "You _little_ …"

A few things happened at once.

Greengrass pulled back her boot to kick Belle, Katherine screamed out in defence of her pet, and a timely intrusion of owl droppings were flung by the old lady sweeping the floor – into Greengrass' face.

Spitting and clawing the brown deposits from her face and mouth, Greengrass stumbled out of the shop blindly.

"That was brilliant, Katherine." said Lily, recognising the eruption of accidental magic.

"She was terrible," said Katherine, frowning out into the alley, "Hating someone because of something they can't help?"

"If you two get on at school, you should come visit Lily this summer," said Rose, cheerfully, "We'd love to have a friend from her school around."

Katherine bowed her head, "That is very nice of you to offer, Mrs Evans."

The _DING_ and clicking shut of the shop door caught all three's attention.

However, Greengrass hadn't returned for revenge as they had all thought.

A tall, chestnut-curled man stood in the doorway, moving with the grace you would expect from the obvious expense of his robes to a stop beside Katherine.

"Katherine," said the man, breathlessly, before frowning at her cat carrier, "I thought you were going to get an owl?"

Katherine opened her mouth to explain, but the man waved her off.

"Never mind, we need to go get your wand and robes." he said with a hand wrapping around her elbow and tugging her to the shop door.

Lily felt a spark of urgency in her gut and started after them, " _Oh_ , you'll sit with me and friends on the train?"

Katherine smiled over her shoulder as she was tugged out the door.

"I'd love to."

Lily and her mother waved as Katherine's blonde hair vanished into the crowds.

"Oh, he was handsome…" said Rose, fixing the back of her hair, "Do you think it was her father? He might drop her off in the summer?"

Lily turned to her mother, aghast.

" _Mum_."

"I love your father, sweetheart," said Rose, swatting the air, "But she was nice, wasn't she?"

Lily frowned, "You've never invited Severus over."

Rose sighed.

"You've known her not ten minutes and she's already been a better friend than that boy has in five years,"

Rose moved to the door with Lily's cat carrier in hand. Once back in the bustling alley, she turned to Lily, smiling.

"It doesn't have to be her…what about Mary? She only lives the suburb over…"

Lily trudged along behind her mother as she spoke without requirement for an answer.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 4: The Hogwarts Express (preview) ~*_

" _Do you need any help with your trunk?"_

 _Katherine turned around, but – at the sight of the owner of the voice – lost her words._

 _He grinned brilliantly, already bending over, "What kind of Head Boy would I be if I didn't insist?"_

 _The neat part down his gold locks was where Katherine fixed her gaze._

 _She herself tucked her hair behind both ears, "Oh, you're Head Boy?"_

" _I'm afraid that I don't know who you are either," he conceded, putting down her trunk before extending his hand, "Gideon Prewett."_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Hogwarts Express

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K Rowling.**

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **{Edited on 08/11/2019}**

* * *

' _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC'_ curved around the shopfront Giles had stopped at, and a bell sounded when he pushed open the door.

Katherine followed through, seeing long rows – not unlike bookshelves – that ran almost the entire length of the shop. And from them emerged a tall white-haired man with pale watery eyes.

"Ah, Miss Spencer," the man whispered, eyeing her with a senile smile, "Better late than never,"

He pottered around the front desk, pulling his wand from his inner coat pocket.

"I still remember selling your mother and father their first wands –" Ollivander waved his wand in an intricate motion and a tape measure shot out and slithered around mid-air, "Let's see… wand arm out, please,"

Katherine glanced to Giles, only holding out her right arm once he nodded.

"Yes, yes…"

The tape shrivelled up on the front desk and the watery-eyed man disappeared into the shelves.

"Garrick Ollivander," Giles whispered from his chair in the corner, "He's been running this shop for decades."

Sounds of cardboard hitting hollowly continued on for a few short minutes before he emerged with a smooth black box. He presented it to Katherine in a grand gesture, his eyes flitting between the box and Katherine.

"Hornbeam… 10 and ¾ inches… with a phoenix feather core,"

Katherine slowly reached in, the wood already warm to her fingers. She hoped that she held it correctly –

A burst of gold sparks and a gust of warm wind through her hair didn't let her worry any further.

Ollivander broke into a faint smile while Giles cleared his throat and shifted in his chair.

"Yes… that will serve you nicely," said Ollivander quietly.

And then, as if snapping out of a trance, he plodded behind the lamp-lit counter.

"And that will be twelve galleons, Miss Spencer."

Katherine reached inside her velvet draw-string bag and found the correct amount of gold coins, handing them over and leaving with Giles and her wand.

"Here," Giles tapped the draw-string bag dangling from Katherine's wrist with his wand, "That's an undetectable extension charm; you'll be able to put as many things as you want in there."

Katherine experimented with poking her wand in, but found no bottom to the bag. Pleasantly surprised, she drew it closed once more.

"Thank you." said Katherine.

She noted that Giles was slowing by a green-panelled shopfront.

"You can't very well take your trunk everywhere." said Giles over his shoulder as he pushed open the door to ' _Twilfitt and Tatting's_ '.

"Felix! _Darling!_ "

An older woman with robes the colour of her silver hair swept out from behind a curtain. Her plum-coloured lips parted in a face-splitting grin.

"Agatha Tatting," Giles bowed his head gently, took her be-jewelled hand and kissed it, "A pleasure as always."

Katherine was taken aback by Giles' gesture for a short moment.

Agatha laughed, clutching one hand to her chest and slowly retracting her other hand from Giles. She suddenly became solemn and took Giles' hand back in both of hers, patting them.

"I was sorry to hear about your parents," said Agatha, shaking her head, "Dragon Pox is nasty business…"

Giles smiled cordially and gently pulled his hands away, "I'm sure you've lost quite a few loyal customers over recent years."

Agatha laughed shortly and loudly, flinging a crimson-nailed hand through the air and retreating back to her desk.

"I've still got all of the Black family – they _alone_ could keep me in business until the end of my days,"

Agatha had taken to peering down at an appointment book, looking up and over her gold-rimmed spectacles.

"End of the line with you though, my boy?"

Giles shifted his weight between his feet and clasped his hands behind his back, "I'm still young."

Agatha smiled, "And so handsome,"

Her lime gaze landed on Katherine during a break of her teasing.

"But who is this?" she closed her book, eyes flashing and lips curving, "A… female friend."

Giles cleared his throat and inclined his head.

"Agatha," he said quietly, gesturing from Katherine to the older lady, "This is Katherine Spencer,"

Something flickered in Agatha's eyes and her lips parted.

"She's going to Hogwarts today." Giles finished, standing more stiffly than before.

Agatha's demeanour changed from being shocked to scandalized in a flash.

"Robes? _Today?_ "

Agatha rounded her desk again, her eyelashes smacking her cheeks in a flurry of blinks.

"Oh, you've simply left it to the last possible minute, haven't you?"

Agatha began muttering and pacing, shaking her head.

" _Morgana's dragons…_ "

Katherine, concerned for the state their imposition on Agatha Tatting had left her in, remembered another robe shop they had seen down the alley. Giles had strode straight past it, and Katherine assumed it was just personal preference.

But she tapped Giles' arm and whispered, "Do we have to go to Madam Malkin's?"

Agatha ceased her pacing but shook her head even more vigorously.

"Malkin's?" her plum lips twisted around the words.

Agatha let out a humourless laugh before fixing Katherine with a fonder expression, tilting her head.

"Dear, I've personally dressed every Spencer since 1895 – _you_ will be no exception," Agatha smiled at Katherine and gestured to a gold stool by a mirror in the corner, "Step up onto the stool."

Katherine did as she was told; stepping up onto the narrow stool and taking great care to not wobble.

"She'll need a full assortment of robes." said Giles, sighing as he parked himself on an emerald lounge by the window.

Agatha nodded, a tape measure shooting from her wand and magically measuring every inch of Katherine.

The robes Giles had procured for her upon waking that morning were so obviously not hers. He had magically adjusted them to fit her, but they belonged to a witch much older than her.

All the while, Agatha paced around Katherine.

"I still remember making your first set of robes,"

Agatha stopped behind Katherine in the mirror.

"Your mother wouldn't so much as take a finger off of you when I did my measurements,"

Agatha sighed through a watery smile.

Katherine found herself smiling at the mention of her parents. It was a nice change to hear about them for once, even from strangers.

After finishing her measurements, Agatha set to work at a bench with her wand and swaths of fabric.

Meanwhile, Katherine sat rigidly next to Giles on the lounge by the window to wait.

He seemed miles away despite being less than a foot to her left.

They didn't have to wait long, however. Madam Tatting had several sets of robes stitching themselves at once and tendered Katherine's payment barely a half hour later.

"Thank you, Madam Tatting." said Katherine, hoping to convey her gratitude.

"Of course," Agatha nodded with a cheerful smile, waving as Katherine followed Giles to the door.

The door's bell rang as Giles passed through first with Katherine's trunk, and Katherine went to follow, wrapping the string of her bag around her wrist –

"Katherine?"

Katherine turned back at Agatha's voice, "Yes?"

A multitude of things flickered across Agatha's wrinkled face at once, but she settled on a smile.

" _Welcome back,_ my darling."

Katherine's return to the Wizarding World was short lived, Giles leading her straight from Twilfitt and Tatting's, through The Leaky Cauldron and into the streets of muggle London.

Katherine ignored the sick feeling of dread that inched up her throat when they skirted around Claremont Square and continued on.

She beat back feelings of longing for her material items, and let Giles lead her to their final stop in the muggle world between Platforms Nine and Ten at King's Cross Station.

With a hand on her elbow, Giles pulled her towards Platform Ten, "Forgive me for the shock."

Katherine barely had time to blink before he pulled her _through_ the brick platform.

There was a cloud of steam around a scarlet train. On a black plaque, golden letters spelled out the engine's name. _The Hogwarts Express_.

It seemed rather normal, even if the methods of getting onto the platform weren't.

However, Katherine yet again found herself surrounded by people that were anything but normal – by people that were like her.

There were parents and their children; some clinging on, and others fleeing with promises of letters.

And then there was Giles and Katherine.

"You'll need to load your trunk into a compartment and then it's about a three hour ride," Giles patted the trolley he had pushed for Katherine, "I'm going to have to leave you on your own for a little bit,"

Giles looked down the length of the train before looking back to Katherine.

"Will you be okay?" Giles asked, smoothing back a stray curl and furrowing his eyebrows.

Katherine didn't think that he would stay if she said _'no'_.

"Sure." Katherine lied.

She couldn't muster a smile.

Giles didn't seem to notice.

"Use one of the toilets to change into your robes after you find a compartment." said Giles absentmindedly as he turned.

Katherine stood and watched his frame retreat into the throngs of students loitering outside the train. A group of older boys eclipsed him, but Katherine saw the carriage door open and close before his curly mop of hair bobbed out of sight completely.

A tall figure blocked the sunlight filtering in through the end of the platform tunnel.

"Do you need any help with your trunk?"

Katherine turned around, but – at the sight of the owner of the voice – lost her words.

He grinned brilliantly, already bending over, "What kind of Head Boy would I be if I didn't insist?"

The neat part down his gold locks was where Katherine fixed her gaze.

She herself tucked her hair behind both ears.

"Oh, you're Head Boy?" Katherine tried to ask casually.

He stood with the handle of her trunk in one hand and his own in his other. He was smiling amusedly.

"I'm afraid that I don't know who you are either," he conceded, putting down her trunk before extending his hand, "Gideon Prewett."

Katherine accepted his hand and felt her knees go weak, "Katherine Spencer."

His honey eyes lit up and his hand ceased it's shaking of Katherine's. He didn't let go.

"You're a Spencer?"

Katherine could only nod.

"Oi, Gideon –"

A boy stopped short of Gideon. At once, Katherine noticed that the two were identical within a freckle.

The twin of Gideon looked upon Katherine with delighted surprise.

Katherine took note of the shirt he wore, it had ' _73_ _rd_ _Annual Quidditch World Cup_ ' emblazoned in gold lettering that glittered and winked.

"A transfer from Beauxbatons?" he inquired.

Katherine shifted her weight from leg to leg and blinked, "Oh, er, no…"

"Gideon, laddie!" a boy in a blue and bronze scarf greeted, grabbing Gideon's shoulder roughly in passing.

Gideon neatened his gold waves back into place and threw a dazzling smile over his shoulder.

"Wood." Gideon nodded at the boy in returned respect.

His twin, however, was still frowning at Katherine.

"Durmstrang?" his voice lilted higher in confusion.

Katherine shook her head and wrung her hands.

Two dark heads – one messy and one neat – passed behind the Prewetts and stole Fabian's attention. They seemed younger, closer to Katherine's age.

The one with messy hair locked his hazel gaze onto Gideon. His eyes flashed mischievously and his hand raised to muss the back of his own hair even further.

"Good summer, Gideon?"

Gideon blinked and swatted over his shoulder.

"Splendid, Potter," he answered absently before gripping his twin's upper arm. Gideon threw a significant look at Katherine before throwing his eyes back to his brother, "She's a _Spencer_."

Katherine was beginning to become curious about her surname. _Had her parents been in the newspapers for a long while?_

The twin held out his hand with decided grin, "Fabian, twin of Gideon."

Katherine took his hand but felt her knees remain strong that time around, "Katherine."

The Potter boy had gone on, but his neater haired companion had turned back to glance curiously at her. He seemed to have caught Gideon's words – her name.

Fabian pointedly rolled his eyes before grinning at Katherine.

"Mister popular, this one," said Fabian.

Fabian smacked Gideon soundly on the chest before pulling his towards the train.

"Come on, we've got to meet with Wood and King."

Gideon looked back at his Katherine, his expression caught, "But –"

Fabian wasn't listening.

"King's handing over the captaincy this year," Fabian announced importantly, "I need to know if I'm getting it."

"Sorry, Spencer." Gideon's expression was apologetic before it was submerged into the sea of heads on the platform.

But it wasn't long until she saw the Prewetts again. While she was lugging her trunk down the hallway to find an empty compartment, she passed the compartment they had taken up residence inside of.

The boy in the blue and bronze scarf from earlier was extending his hand to an already seated boy. Katherine vaguely remembered Gideon referring to him as _'Wood'_.

"No hard feelings about this year, King?" Wood asked, gloating so much he seemed to glow.

King was long, stretched across the compartment easily even with his legs bent. He had closely- cropped black hair on a head shaped like a half-let-down-football. But he held out a hand, even larger than his head, with a crooked smile in accompany of it.

"Potter will smash yer's anyway,"

King shook Wood's hand before leaning back with a resigned smile.

"And Black'll probably smash me for not choosing him as Captain if that's any consolation for ya."

A group of boys ducked into a compartment up ahead. She recognised the two dark haired boys that passed Gideon. A lanky sandy-haired boy, taller than the other two, trailed behind. A mousy-haired boy, the shortest of the four, scurried up the rear.

Gideon had called the boy with messy hair and glasses 'Potter'.

Katherine almost didn't recognise him in his school uniform.

Potter was walking very carefully while the boy with neater black hair trailed behind.

The trailing boy held Potter's glasses to his eyes and pulled them away repeatedly before handing them back.

"You really _are_ blind!"

Potter adjusted his glasses on his nose, grinning all the while.

"Wow, thanks, mate," said Potter sarcastically, righting a badge on his left lapel, "You'd think you'd never seen glasses before."

The boy with perfect vision shrugged.

"Not on you – four years you've managed at school without them…" The boy grinned mirthfully, "You've no chance with Evans now."

Potter rolled his eyes, but there was a worried crinkle at the edges of them.

"They make him look a little more studious," the sandy-haired boy behind the two contributed with a kind smile, "Perhaps the opposite effect?"

Potter suddenly threw his shoulders back, "Who needs studious when I'm the youngest Gryffindor Captain in half a century!"

The boys moved past, but the hallway wasn't empty.

Lily's red hair bobbed past in their wake.

"Katherine! There you are!" Lily waved Katherine out of her chosen compartment, "Come on, you can meet the rest of the girls…"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 5: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (preview) ~*_

" _Oi, Evans." James called with a large grin._

 _Lily pursed her lips, "Potter."_

 _She went to move past him, Black, and Pettigrew._

" _Who's that?" James nodded at Katherine and un-crossed his arms from across his chest._

" _Katherine." said Lily, not sparing him a glance._

 _James grinned._

" _Can she speak?" he asked jokingly._

 _James' eyes fell on Katherine for the first time._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K Rowling.**

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **{Edited on 09/11/2019}**

* * *

"Girls, this is Katherine," Lily announced, smiling kindly back at Katherine before plopping down on the bench, "She's new."

A girl with a caramel bob girl waved with a welcoming smile, the first of the girls to do so.

"Mary Macdonald," she greeted, nodding gently, "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Katherine returned, relieved that she didn't seem to stick out too much.

"Alice Fortescue." The girl who looked remarkably like Twiggy offered quietly.

Katherine remembered the last name from a shop in Diagon Alley and the girl from greeting Gideon.

"Fortescue?" Katherine asked, "Like the ice cream shop?"

Alice smiled shyly, "My grandfather owns it."

"And that's Marlene McKinnon." Lily supplied, pointing to a girl rummaging through her trunk muttering about lost Quidditch gear.

"It's nice to meet you all." Katherine said tentatively to the compartment at large.

Lily patted the seat beside her in indication for Katherine to sit down.

There were three seats on either side of the compartment, Alice and Mary sat opposite Marlene and Lily.

Lily looked around Marlene at Katherine with an alert smile, "So, are you muggleborn?"

The terms were starting to confuse Katherine.

For all she knew, she could have been. She only knew that she wasn't a squib.

"What _was_ your last name again?" Marlene asked.

"Spencer." said Katherine.

Mary's eyes widened, "As in…"

Marlene, Mary, and Alice all looked between themselves in silence for a moment before turning back to Katherine.

"Aren't you supposed to be…" Alice wrinkled her nose and waved her hands around awkwardly.

"Dead?" Marlene asked bluntly.

"Dead!?" Lily looked between everyone in the compartment, at a loss. "Is this some weird pureblood history thing?"

"Uh…You-Know-Who, went after her when she was a child," Marlene began to explain, looking to Katherine with an apologetic smile, "Sorry about bringing it up, Katherine."

Katherine opened her mouth to tell Marlene that she needn't worry, but the compartment doors slid open with _BANG_.

Giles stood there, an expression of mild surprise flashing across his face. His eyes darted around the compartment full of girls until they fell upon Katherine.

Katherine noted that his chest was heaving, as if the man had been running.

"Katherine." said Giles quietly, with a nod to the door.

Katherine pushed herself up.

"Oh, er," she paused and waved back at the girls, "See you."

"See you." they chorused brightly, all the while watching Giles curiously.

Katherine followed Giles down the corridor, kicking herself that she hadn't even noticed that the train had stopped. It was a smooth ride compared to the Knight Bus. Katherine came to the swift conclusion that she much preferred the train.

"Leave yer trunks!" Katherine heard someone yelling from outside the train, "They'll be taken up to the castle separately!"

The corridor was warm, packed with bodies, and Katherine felt it much easier to breathe when she and Giles squeezed out onto the platform and into the crisp evening. When they did, Katherine paused.

Her limbs tingled in the face of the large castle across the murky lake; _Hogwarts_.

"This way," Giles' hand found Katherine's elbow in a familiar grip, "We'll get the first carriage up to the castle."

True to his word, Giles weaved through the clusters of friend groups and the path cutting through a forest.

Katherine found herself slowing as she looked around.

There was something familiar about the cracks of leaves and twigs underfoot – about the way the trees twisted overhead. It was odd, considering that the closest Katherine had ever come to so many trees at once was in the nature strip of Claremont Square.

 _There was a regular flash of gold. Heavy breaths fell like the quick and heavy footsteps striking the ground below Katherine. The flesh against her forehead was cold and beading with sweat, but it didn't bother her – she felt safe._

" _I'm sorry, Katherine –" a deep voice cracked, "– I'm so sorry –"_

 _A branch skimmed the back of her head –_

" _It's all my fault –"_

 _Arms tightened around her, but all she could see was the path of twisting trees behind her, jolting out of focus every other step –_

" _Dumbledore will fix everything… he will… he has to…"_

"Katherine…"

"Katherine!"

Katherine blinked and looked away from the trees, realising that she and Giles had stopped.

He was looking at her in mild concern.

Katherine took notice of her surroundings, largely unchanged from the break she took while being caught up in her thoughts, but with the addition of horse-pulled carriages. Stunned at the strange breed of horses – skeletal looking with spiny wings – Katherine paused once again.

Giles climbed up a small set of steps out of her peripheral vision, "Come on."

Katherine tore her eyes from the horses, curious, but not all that surprised after all she had seen over the past day and climbed into the carriage.

She and Giles sat opposite one another, and she was vaguely aware that he was observing her. The hairs on the back of her neck never lied.

"You made friends," said Giles suddenly, nodding once, "Good."

Katherine thought back on the girls she had met and felt a million questions rise up her throat.

"Who's ' _You-Know-Who'_?"

Giles took a deep breath and blinked, "Chatty girls, I take it…"

Katherine was still waiting for her answer, unwilling to let this one go.

Giles gulped, frowned at the passing trees that were painted blue by the starlight, and then sighed.

"Everyone is too afraid of the wizard who –" Giles broke off, looked down at his knees and then met Katherine's eye with new resolve, "Everyone is too afraid of the wizard who murdered your parents to speak his name."

Katherine frowned, unsatisfied, "Well, what is it?"

Giles' eyebrows shot up.

"His name?"

Katherine nodded.

Giles hesitated, "Lord Voldemort."

Images of top-hats and waist-coats entered Katherine's mind.

"He's a Lord?"

Giles shook his head quickly.

"He just calls himself that," said Giles, slowly smiling like he had a bitter taste in his mouth all the while, "It makes people forget he's a half-blood."

It wasn't the first time that blood had been mentioned around Katherine. It was strange, up until the previous night, she had thought that there were only a handful of types. She knew she was A-Positive, having had a bad flu when she was eight that required a blood test.

"Is blood a big thing here?" Katherine asked.

"Yes." Giles' answer was firm and casual at the same time, his eyes keenly watching the path whiz by them.

"What am I?"

Giles's eyes flitted sideways.

Katherine watched as his throat bobbed and his eyes returned to the path in front of them.

"You're as pureblood as they come," Giles finally said, blinking thoughtfully and tilting his head to the side, "Mind you, I don't think you're related to the Blacks…"

"The Blacks?" Katherine jumped on the name quickly, "I've heard them mentioned a few times,"

She tried for casualness despite her strangling curiosity.

"Who are they?"

Giles ran his knuckles beneath his chin, "The oldest pureblood family in Europe,"

He turned back to Katherine, shaking his head.

"Nothing for you to worry about though."

Katherine relaxed against the wooden seat of the carriage at his words.

She considered asking him if he knew anymore about the houses. Or if he knew what houses her parents had been sorted into. But she doubted that he knew much of anything about her parents – apart from what must have been in the newspapers anyways.

So she asked him about Quidditch instead.

With an initially curious and amused look, Giles regarded her a moment before launching into an explanation on the Wizarding World's favourite sport.

Talk of Quaffles and Bludgers – two of the three types of balls involved in the game – accompanied the occasional _BANG_ 's under the carriage wheels when they'd catch on stones.

Although enraptured with the explanation of the sport played a hundred feet in the air on broomsticks, Katherine's eyes strayed to the path regularly.

Giles was wrapping up an anecdote about a Slytherin versus Gryffindor match in his Hogwarts' days (It had gone for ten hours, a Gryffindor Chaser making the Hogwarts record for most points scored ever with seventy personal goals) when the trees thinned.

The carriage rolled to a stop, and Katherine peeked out.

They had arrived at Hogwarts.

The pink sunset bled to the intermediate grey that preceded an inky purple night. The stars were faint behind the tips of the tallest stone towers. There were torches outside the entrance, barely lighting the way from the carriage to the front steps.

Insects hummed from the forest behind them as Giles led the way across the gravel path. The chill of impending night leeched through Katherine's clothes. Her skin was still warm enough from the sun it absorbed through the carriage window to ward most of it off.

Faint smoke met Katherine's nose, a gentle plume rising from the chimney of a brick-red cottage down the sloping green lawns.

The expanse of the castle's walls masked more and more of the grounds as Katherine stepped closed, following Giles.

The open doors of the castle were prowled by a hunched man with long, wiry hair and a red-eyed cat that seemed awfully suspicious of Katherine and Giles for a feline.

"What are you doing here, Giles?" the man sneered, though visibly undecided between hostility and unease.

Giles was unperturbed and had taken Katherine's elbow again, "Teaching."

"That'll be the day…letting trouble makers come back and _teach_ …I heard the stories about the likes of you from my cousin…" Filch muttered after them.

Giles led Katherine through an Entrance Hall filled with more torches.

"Argus Filch," Giles nodded back in the direction of the prowling man, "Must have just taken over from his cousin, Apollyon Pringle, as caretaker."

He pointed to a set of double doors.

"The Great Hall; you'll be coming back down to eat in there with the rest of the school after I take you to the Headmaster."

Giles took a right off of the Entrance Hall and a marble staircase loomed ahead.

"That man didn't seem to like you very much." said Katherine, both concerned at what Giles had done to earn such a reception and amused.

Giles' lips twitched, and he hopped from the first step to the third, "His cousin didn't either – watch out for the disappearing step."

Katherine looked down to find that the second step had disappeared and carefully minded the gap as she was towed by her elbow up the stairs to the first landing. Katherine smiled at the absurdity of a disappearing step, and loved it privately before she was faced with something new to marvel.

Looking up, Katherine saw eight levels of staircases _moving_.

"Come on, we're late," said Giles, tugging on her elbow and taking the right staircase as he checked his pocket watch and then mumbled something about a shortcut.

They were four floors up when Katherine found her voice again.

"Do they give out maps by any chance?" said Katherine at a whisper, waving back at a moving portrait of a large family gathered around a roast.

Giles didn't reply, producing his wand from a holster on his hip and tapping a mirror.

" _Dissendium!_ " he opened the mirror-turned-door and stepped through, "Come through here."

Katherine warily stepped through to a large antechamber of sorts, the stone tapering down into a jagged tunnel that inclined through the very walls of the castle.

The mirror closed behind them, plunging them into darkness.

" _Lumos!_ "

Giles' wand tip lit up with a white light not unlike a torch.

 _Katherine would have to remember that spell…_

"We didn't have passageways like this at St Mary's…" Katherine observed as they began up the incline.

She noted that the passageways were slightly narrower than those underneath Gringotts – and more roughly hacked away at.

Giles turned to Katherine before turning back to watch his step, "Do you prefer your old school?"

"Goodness, _no_ ," whispered Katherine, touching the jagged walls as they continued up, "It's just so… so… _magical_ here…"

Katherine caught Giles' smile by the silhouette of his puffed out cheek against his wand light, "Wait until your homework starts piling up."

"Magic homework is hardly speeches and pythagoras theorem though," said Katherine, and – in a split second of worry that she would have to do mathematics – she sought Giles' confirmation on her previously confident words, "Right?"

Giles' wand light revealed a circular door that he paused at, " _Don't sign up for Arithmancy, then..._ " he murmured, blindly reaching for a handle that he found first go – dust filtering down on their heads from where it budged to reveal a sliver of torch light.

Giles pushed the stone door open enough for them to slip out single file and then closed it again, the tapestry it was propping open falling shut over the passageway's entrance.

And then they were walking again – out of what seemed to be a trophy room – into another hallway. Halfway down the hallway though, Giles stopped – much to Katherine's relief – and turned to an alcove housing a gargoyle statue.

" _Sugar Quills_."

The gargoyle sprang to life and hopped aside, revealing a staircase. Not pausing, though she would have liked to in her amazement, Katherine followed Giles up the staircase to a short landing. He paused in front of a heavy pair of doors, regarding them with something akin to reverence, before knocking three times.

"Come in." a voice called from the other side.

Giles opened one of the two doors and motioned gallantly for Katherine to step through first.

A circular room met Katherine's eyes, and she was immediately distracted by the whirring of all sorts of silver instruments beneath the glass of cabinets. They were not unlike the instruments she had seen in Dervish and Bangs but looked considerably more valuable than anything found in Diagon Alley.

There were moving portraits covering the walls and plaques beneath them with the term of which the portraits' subjects were the Headmaster of the school.

Katherine eyes fell at last on the current Headmaster; standing from his throne-like chair with kind, twinkling eyes. His beard was so long that it disappeared beneath his desk and merged with his long silvery hair. Beneath all of the hair were the brightest orange robes Katherine had ever seen.

If Giles hadn't told her about him, she would not think to take him seriously at all.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir." said Giles, inclining his head respectfully and skirting around Katherine.

"Felix, take a seat…take a seat," said Dumbledore, waving his hand at two wingback chairs opposite his own, his large mahogany desk between, and then he smiled at Katherine, "Hello, Katherine."

"Hello, Professor." said Katherine, following Giles' lead.

"I'll take it that you have a lot of questions –" Dumbledore began, holding up his hand as Katherine's mouth fell open –"All of which will be answered in due time, Katherine,"

Katherine closed her mouth and nodded, knitting her hands together.

"I take it that Felix has filled you in somewhat..." continued Dumbledore, "But for now, we need to sort you and join the rest of the school at the welcoming feast."

A tattered old hat was gripped in Dumbledore's wrinkled and bejewelled fingers. The only difference between it and any other manky old conical hat was the tear around the brim. And when the hat was lowered onto Katherine's head, slipping down her forehead, the tear became a mouth.

"Mhmmm… not a bad mind…" the hat murmured, "Not bad at all… but where to put you…"

She closed her eyes and gulped.

"Perhaps…Ravenclaw?"

Not a second later, there was another hum. It was almost as if the hat was shaking it's head.

"Perhaps not…perhaps not…"

The hat murmured to itself for a long moment, indistinguishable to Katherine.

"Aha!"

Katherine jumped on the stool.

"Your quest rests upon this – _GRYFFINDOR!_ "

Giles looked resolutely down at the rug between he and Katherine.

Dumbledore advanced towards the stool and gently lifted the hat from Katherine's hair by its point.

Katherine smoothed down her hair, feeling very much under observation.

"Congratulations, Katherine," said Dumbledore softly, bowing his ancient head, "I understand that you have been through a great deal these past twenty-four hours,"

He looked over the top of his half-moon spectacles at the acknowledgment with a gentle smile barely visible beneath his silvery beard.

"But I would like to assure you that, here at Hogwarts, you are completely safe."

Katherine believed him.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Now," Dumbledore placed the hat down on the edge of his desk and clasped his hands in front of himself, "You should trot along to dinner, I assume you've worked up quite an appetite."

Katherine stood on nervous legs, and looked between a lounging Giles and an expectant Dumbledore, "Oh, er, okay..."

She crossed to the doors of Dumbledore's office at a hesitant pace.

"Giles…" she heard Dumbledore murmur, "I'd like a word before you go, if I may."

"Of course, Professor Dumbledore."

"Oh, and, Katherine?"

Katherine turned, perhaps too eagerly, at Dumbledore's voice, "Yes, Professor?"

He smiled congenially, "Just in case you don't hear it at the feast, the password for the Gryffindor common room is 'giggle juice'."

Katherine nodded and turned at the insistence of Dumbledore's waved hand.

The doors opened for Katherine and closed firmly after she stepped over the threshold to the staircase. She turned back, looking at the sealed doors, curious about what Dumbledore would want with Giles.

 _Would it concern her?_ She wondered.

And she continued to ponder all the way down Dumbledore's staircase and into the hallway that lied past the gargoyle statue.

She was only stalled once more.

In the corridor off the Entrance Hall, just as Katherine had set her sights on the double doors of the Great Hall, a woman appeared.

The woman was everything Katherine expected a witch to be; long emerald velvet robes, a slouching conical hat, boots, and a very severe expression – though not wicked. The severe expression faltered upon sighting the other lone person in the Entrance Hall.

Katherine felt her eyes widen – worried she was going to get into trouble by the tight-bunned witch.

"Spencer?" the woman asked, more surprised than reprimanding, her green eyes bulging and her long strides halting.

Katherine didn't ask how the woman knew her name.

"Er, yes, Professor…?"

The woman blinked, frowned, and then opened her narrow lips.

"McGonagall," she told Katherine.

She seemed to hesitate on saying something else before she waved a slender hand at the double doors to the Great Hall.

"Hurry in, I'm on my way to collect the first years and need to bring them through – there will be a big fuss over it, so if you want to go in unnoticed…"

"Yes, Professor." said Katherine, ducking her head and approaching the cold handles of the door.

Professor McGonagall's emerald green robes swept past, and Katherine took a breath before pushing the right door open enough to slip through, anxious for what lied beyond.

The hall opened up, buzzing with chatter and laughter, Katherine paused briefly to look around.

There were four tables running the length of Great Hall. The far left occupied by green-robed students, the next table by blue-robed students, the next with red-robed students, and the far right with yellow.

Above them were hundreds – possibly thousands – of candles, drifting under a replica of the night sky unaided. Katherine couldn't see the ceiling, but knew there had to be one, as there were the light beginnings of rain outside and the hall was a force of warmth.

Professor McGonagall had been right, not many people glanced up as Katherine slipped inside the double doors. The few who did went back to their own conversations immediately.

Knowing she belonged with those in red robes, Katherine began to walk along the Gryffindor table, looking for the red hair of Lily Evans.

She passed two identical heads of blond hair at the very end of the table closest to the doors – the Prewett twins – at the centre of attention of at least a dozen older Gryffindor students, and then didn't spy so much as one familiar face until she was halfway down the table.

Lily's red hair was unmissable amongst the crowds of heads that shone gold and copper under the candlelight.

Katherine slowed by the group of girls that were relatively unchanged from the group on the train, and waited for Alice to finish her story about accidentally sending a boy into anaphylactic shock at her family's ice cream shop before she cleared her throat.

"Is it okay if I sit here?"

"I should have known you'd be sorted here – after that run in with Greengrass in Diagon Alley and all..." Lily beamed, pulling her robes closing to her body and clearing a bit of bench.

Before they could say anything further, Dumbledore took to the podium.

A group of First Years, hurried in by Professor McGonagall, anxiously awaited their sorting below him.

However, before anything else could happen, the tear at the brim of the sorting hat opened, and out came song.

 _In times of old, when I was new_

 _And Hogwarts barely started,_

 _The founders of our noble school_

 _Thought never to be parted._

 _United by a common goal,_

 _They had the selfsame yearning_

 _To make the world's best magic school_

 _And pass along their learning._

 _"Together we will build and teach"_

 _The four good friends decided._

 _And never did they dream that they_

 _Might some day be divided._

 _For were there such friends anywhere_

 _As Slytherin and Gryffindor?_

 _Unless it was the second pair_

 _Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,_

 _So how could it have gone so wrong?_

 _How could such friendships fail?_

 _Why, I was there, so I can tell_

 _The whole sad, sorry tale._

 _Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those_

 _Whose ancestry's purest."_

 _Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose_

 _Intelligence is surest."_

 _Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those_

 _With brave deeds to their name."_

 _Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot_

 _And treat them just the same."_

 _These differences caused little strife_

 _When first they came to light._

 _For each of the four founders had_

 _A house in which they might_

 _Take only those they wanted, so,_

 _For instance, Slytherin_

 _Took only pure-blood wizards_

 _Of great cunning just like him._

 _And only those of sharpest mind_

 _Were taught by Ravenclaw_

 _While the bravest and the boldest_

 _Went to daring Gryffindor._

 _Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest_

 _and taught them all she knew,_

 _Thus, the houses and their founders_

 _Maintained friendships firm and true._

 _So Hogwarts worked in harmony_

 _For several happy years,_

 _But then discord crept among us_

 _Feeding on our faults and fears._

 _The Houses that, like pillars four_

 _Had once held up our school_

 _Now turned upon each other and_

 _Divided, sought to rule._

 _And for a while it seemed the school_

 _Must meet an early end._

 _What with duelling and with fighting_

 _And the clash of friend on friend._

 _And at last there came a morning_

 _When old Slytherin departed_

 _And though the fighting then died out_

 _He left us quite downhearted._

 _And never since the founders four_

 _Were whittled down to three_

 _Have the Houses been united_

 _As they once were meant to be._

 _And now the Sorting Hat is here_

 _And you all know the score:_

 _I sort you into Houses_

 _Because that is what I'm for._

 _But this year I'll go further,_

 _Listen closely to my song:_

 _Though condemned I am to split you_

 _Still I worry that it's wrong,_

 _Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

 _The warning history shows,_

 _For our Hogwarts is in danger_

 _From external, deadly foes._

 _And we must unite inside her_

 _Or we'll crumble from within_

 _I have told you, I have warned you..._

 _Let the Sorting now begin._

Silence filled the Great Hall and goose bumps prickled Katherine's skin, her eyes found the table at the end of the hall; the staff table, and then Giles' gaze.

Giles offered her an imperceptive nod before his eyes returned to the podium where Dumbledore stood.

Following his lead, Katherine – like everyone else – awaited the beginning of the sorting.

McGonagall stood with a scroll by a stool and sought to break the silence with the clearing of her throat.

"Alderidge, Jeffery."

The sorting blurred together after the first two First Year students.

Katherine watched passively, glad for an excuse to not have to speak for a small while.

"Now… to our new students, welcome! To our old students, welcome back!" Dumbledore greeted, "Another year of magical education awaits you,"

Dumbledore smiled over the Hall.

"There are some start of term notices;" said Dumbledore, "First of all, I would like you all to welcome Professor Giles to our school, he will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher,"

Polite clapping sounded around the Great Hall, a few whispers breaking out and a few very girly giggles and sighs.

Giles stood, his gelled hair bobbing above the rest as he gave a shallow bow and raised a hand in a short wave.

"Moving on…Mr Filch would also like me to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is in fact forbidden," Dumbledore continued on, "And without further ado, let the _feast_ begin!"

At his words, the four house tables became flooded with food, the Hall filled with the chatter of students who hadn't seen each other for a whole summer.

Gold goblets bubbled to the brim with juice and water, glazed turkeys and roast vegetables popped onto extravagant trays in the middle of the table, and Katherine was surprised to see that she only had one of every utensil. She was used to having to navigate at least three different types of forks at any given meal.

"So, Katherine,"

Katherine looked up to find that it was Lily who had spoken, the red-head offering her a small smile as she ladled pumpkin soup into her bowl.

"You could probably do with a rundown of who's who in the school."

Katherine felt a surge of immediate relief and nodded, smiling bashfully.

"Next to Dumbledore…that's McGonagall," Lily pointed briefly, "She's our Head of House and teaches Transfiguration…"

Lily proceeded to help Katherine put names and subjects next to the faces of everyone at the staff table.

The moustached wizard with a gut resting next to his frequently used goblet was named Horace Slughorn and taught potions – also being Greengrass' Head of House.

The man next to him had a chair higher than any other, his height very similar to that of a Gringotts' Goblin, and he taught Charms. And so on, until Katherine knew who each of her teachers were.

And then Lily, with Marlene's constant background commentary, moved on to the students of Hogwarts.

"Best to steer clear of most Slytherins… our rivalry is the stuff of legends, and there are hardly any pleasant ones anyway…Ravenclaws generally keep to themselves, either the top of the class or up in the clouds… Hufflepuffs probably get on with our house the best, they don't care much for house rivalries…"

Lily was looking past Katherine, and Katherine's eyes followed – finding two identical heads of blond hair a few metres on her right.

"And as for our fellow Gryffindors…Head Boy is –"

"Gideon Prewett, yeah." said Katherine, trying to deduce which twin she was actually looking at by searching for the Head Boy pin.

"Do you know him?" Lily asked, inclining her head towards Katherine keenly.

Katherine turned back and realised that not only Lily, but all of the girls in their immediate vicinity, had paused their conversations for Katherine's answer.

"We met on the platform, he offered to help with my trunk." Katherine left off the fact that he never actually ended up helping her though, relishing in the impressed faces of her new friends.

She glanced back in the Head Boy's direction.

A particularly loud roar of laughter from the other side of Lily made her take a breath and nod gently behind herself.

"Those are the Gryffindor boys in our year," said Lily, pushing around her torn bits of bread she had dropped into her soup.

"James Potter –"

Lily indicated to the boy Katherine had seen earlier on platform and on the train, the one with messy black hair and glasses.

Potter was mid-joke; arms gesticulating widely, the boys around him just wheezing for the punchline as if what he was saying was already the height of hilarity. There was a badge pinned to his robes, and Katherine knew that if she were closer, she would see the word ' _Captain_ ' emblazoned across it.

Fabian Prewett had seemed very disheartened indeed when Katherine passed their compartment and heard Wood talking to King about the change in Gryffindor captaincy.

"– Sirius Black –"

Lily nodded at the boy on Potter's right next. It was the boy who had tried on Potter's glasses and declared him blind.

Sirius Black sat with impeccable posture, an expression of mild amusement on his face. He wasn't laughing with the reckless abandon of his friends. He turned, shaking his hair back from his face as he did, and perused the Slytherin table disinterestedly, looking very haughty.

A Hufflepuff girl was eyeing him, but he didn't seem to notice – his gaze on something past her head.

"– Remus Lupin –"

Across from Potter and Black was a sandy-haired boy, looking very pale and haggard. A laugh transformed Remus Lupin's weary features at the punchline of Potter's joke, although he tried to smother it, and he ate with renewed vigour.

"– Frank Longbottom –"

Next to Lupin was a boy on the taller side, with dark hair and a large smile, laughing as rambunctiously as Potter and throwing in his own comments which earnt even more laughter from the group.

"– and Peter Pettigrew." Lily finished, indicating a small pudgy boy next to Black.

Peter was looking reverently between Potter and Longbottom with small, watery blue eyes like it was a tennis match.

"Lupin is a Prefect with me, he's alright." said Lily with a shrug, spooning soup carefully into her mouth.

Marlene wiped a drip of gravy from her chin with bread before taking a large bite of it.

"Pettigrew trails after Potter and Black mostly," she managed out through chews, "won't give you the time of day unless you're something worth worshipping."

"And this Potter and Black are?" Katherine asked.

She was surprised as – looking over at the boys – they seemed rather normal, if a bit oddly proportioned from what looked like a recent and sudden growth spurt.

A head emerged from the middle of the table and Katherine jumped in her seat, watching as shoulders came next, and then a torso; all transparent. A _ghost_ , Katherine realised with a start.

No one else was fazed, Frank Longbottom going so far to greet him cheerfully.

"Hello, Nick, any luck this year?"

To which the man – who looked as if he had emerged from a renaissance painting – replied resignedly, "My chances are, once again, dismal."

He then floated off calling out to a ghost swooping the Hufflepuff table.

Katherine schooled her surprise from her face and attempted to return to eating and conversing like everyone else.

No one had noticed her momentary surprise.

 _Of course ghosts would exist_ , Katherine thought, _ghosts and ghouls, witches and wizards… it all went hand in hand_.

"Potter and Black," said Lily, snorting softly, "Two halves of a whole idiot,"

She spared the boys a long look.

"A dangerous idiot, considering that they have more talent than they know what to do with," She looked to Katherine, "They would be alright if they didn't hex people in the hallways just because they can – or because they're bored –"

Anything else Lily had to rant about was lost to Katherine as the boys' conversation reached a loud enough volume to be audible from where Katherine sat. Curious, Katherine listened in as she cut up her sausages.

"Merlin, just looking at Malfoy makes me want to hex things…" said James, tearing his eyes from the Slytherin table across the Great Hall and stabbing his steak.

Katherine watched as several things happened at once.

Remus became very interested in his dinner, taking great care in mopping up the last bit of sauce with a piece of bread before chewing it slowly.

Sirius' haughty expression finally vanished, his elbows finding the table as he joined the conversation with undisguisable interest.

"Dad said that something big happened last night in London – bunch of blokes ended up in St Mungo's and he got called in to help brew potions," said James, leaning forward and looking either side of himself. He missed Katherine eavesdropping, "I bet he was involved."

"It was just over from Grimmauld," said Sirius, nodding, "Dementors and everything."

"Wow, that would have been scary – all of those… you _know_ …." said Peter, ducking his head, unwilling to go on. But he didn't need to.

"Oh, yeah –" said Sirius sarcastically. His expression was deceptively blank as he reached for a buttered roll, "– petrifying."

Remus looked up from his dinner tiredly, " _Sirius_."

"Are you going to take points?" Sirius asked, the corners of his lips quirking and his heavily-lidded eyes blinking slowly.

"You're not going to turn on your friends now, are you, Moony?" said James, grinning and slinging an arm around Sirius' shoulders.

"Dumbledore was very gracious to give me such a position –"

"If he gave it to one of us, we'd be questioning his judgment." said James with slow smile.

"There was always Longbottom." said Remus sheepishly.

"You're on a first name basis with the librarian, mate." said Sirius, voice trembling with laughter, his eyes gleaming.

"That's beside the point." said Remus, his lips curving despite himself as he shook his head.

Sirius smiled and squinted, "Is it though?"

Remus shrugged.

"Well, everyone likes Frank."

"Frank would like to thank you for your compliment but insists that you cease talking about him like he isn't a foot away."

The boys, and Katherine, collectively turned their eyes to Frank Longbottom. The boy had just pulled his fork from his lips, mouth full of food, and then smiled – puffing out his cheeks.

Alice Fortescue laughed from beside him, covering her mouth to stop her food falling out.

James grinned, "Sorry, Longbottom."

"What's your mate, Snape, doing hanging around with the likes of Avery and Mulciber?"

Marlene's question brought Katherine back to the girls she was sitting with.

Lily shook her head and looked around at the Slytherin table, "Severus doesn't –"

"And look, he's laughing at Greengrass' joke." said Marlene, pointing with her fork again.

The sight of Greengrass, surrounded by other green-robed students who were laughing with her, made Katherine decide that Slytherin must be a bad house if so many of them could enjoy Greengrass' company.

And it was as she was staring at her plate – empty apart from the residual oil – that she witnessed all of the food vanish, only to be replaced by puddings.

Lily stretched her neck to get a good look at the scene, "I'm sure that he's just being polite."

Marlene mumbled something into her strudel that sounded like _'not bloody likely'_ but Lily was too busy trying to surreptitiously watch the Slytherin table to hear.

But what everybody in hall did hear, was a scream.

Katherine, along with everybody else, whipped around, the scream coming from the far left side of the hall; the Slytherin table.

A scraggly boy had jumped to his feet and had begun to swear profusely.

His fellow Slytherins were giving him a wide berth, pinching their noses closed.

His oily black hair curtained most of his long, pallid face, but what he couldn't hide – even beneath his robes – was a stature much like an overgrown weed.

"Dungbomb!"

"In his stew?"

"There was Bubotuber pus in his goblet too!"

Katherine looked around for the culprits, wondering if his fellow Slytherins were brave enough to be so blasé with all of the teachers at the end of Hall. But it wasn't until she looked back to her own table, that she saw James and Sirius whispering to each other.

"You didn't tell me you were going to hide a dungbomb in his robes."

" _Me?"_ saidJames, with a feigned look of incredulity that his grin pushed through _,_ "What about the Bubotuber pus in his pumpkin juice?"

Sirius grinned, shaking his hair from his face, "I thought it might take the top coat of oil from his nose – a _favour_ , really."

The hall fell silent and Katherine looked around to find that Dumbledore had taken to the podium.

"I think that is enough excitement for one evening," Dumbledore declared with a smile, "Prefects, please escort the first years back to their common rooms, it is time for a well-deserved kip after such a feast."

The deafening sound of benches scraping as people got up filled the hall.

Panic filled Katherine's limbs despite the definite haze of tiredness pressing on her brow. Her eyes sought Giles at the end of Hall, but he was moving off through a side door with the rest of the faculty. _This was where they parted ways_ , Katherine guessed.

Now on her own, Katherine watched as Lily sought out the sandy-haired Remus Lupin, towering over all of his friends.

"Remus, are you able to take the first years?" Lily asked her fellow Prefect, "I've got to show our new girl back to the Tower."

"Of course, Lily," Remus swallowed his last mouthful of food, "But, uh, what's the password?"

"I, uh…" Lily began brightly before trailing off in thought, "Oh, _blast_ , I don't know…"

"It's ' _giggle juice_ '," Katherine intervened with a sheepish smile, "Professor Dumbledore told me earlier."

Remus offered her a quick smile, "Thanks,"

He rose up off of the bench and looked down the table at the first years.

"First years! This way!" He called with a welcoming grin, waving his arm with vigour Katherine didn't think him possible of just an hour before.

Remus moved away from the group with a gaggle of First Years in his wake, his friends moving to follow after.

Lily smiled at Katherine, nodding in the direction of the doors, "We'll show you the way back to the Tower."

But before they could leave, James Potter spotted them at the doors – or more specifically, he had spotted Lily.

"Oi, Evans." James called with a large grin.

Lily pursed her lips, "Potter."

She went to move past him, Black, and Pettigrew.

"Who's that?" James nodded at Katherine and un-crossed his arms from across his chest.

"Katherine." said Lily, not sparing him a glance.

James grinned.

"Can she speak?" he asked jokingly.

James' eyes fell on Katherine for the first time.

Katherine flushed immediately, "Fluent English."

Nervous, her eyes flittered to the boys flanking Potter.

Pettigrew had snorted, but was looking to his friends.

Black – the boy who came from the oldest wizarding family in Europe – was just _looking_ at her, his gaze like steel.

Not for the first time, Katherine wished she could read minds.

James' smile faltered, his eyebrows raising, "Mermish next, then?"

Lily moved to place a hand on Katherine's arm, avoiding James' eyes.

"It's best to not encourage him." Lily told Katherine sarcastically, a hint of smile on her pursed lips.

James stretched as his smile returned and leant back against the stone wall.

"Are you worried that I'll fall out of love with you or something, Evans?" James asked loudly.

"I only hope for it every morning and night." said Lily, turning to go.

Sirius barked out a laugh, smacking James' back in comradery.

"Mate, she just obliterated you," said Sirius, "Tend to your ego and fight another day."

Katherine couldn't help but laugh, doing her best to smother it.

Sirius' eyes found her again where she was standing at Lily's side.

 _Something about him seemed so very familiar..._

A few rowdy Hufflepuff's had passed between the Fifth Year girls and boys, and Lily hooked her arm through Katherine's to pull her into the stream of students.

The girls took Katherine back on, what they claimed, was the easiest route to remember back to Gryffindor Tower, pointing out bathrooms and classrooms as they went.

It was as they closed in on the final staircase to the portrait of the Fat Lady that Alice groaned.

Up ahead were Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew slipping in through the portrait – logistically impossible as the girls had left before the boys.

"Those boys always move around the castle so quickly…" Alice murmured jealously.

Their group stopped in front of the portrait that concealed the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

" _Giggle Juice_." said Lily to the Fat Lady.

The portrait swung open, Katherine feeling a great sense of belonging as she stepped through to the circular room with her new friends. The roaring fire and stuffed arm chairs aided the sense of comfort. The girls all scurried up the steps to their dormitory to escape the multitude of First Years in the common room.

The dormitory was a large circle room, much like the common room, but with five four-poster-beds spaced evenly apart. The girls immediately went to their claimed beds, leaving the bed furthest from the door empty.

Katherine found her trunk at the foot of the bed decked out in ruby hangings, trimmed with gold, identical to the others.

"We always wondered if there would ever be a fifth…" Alice murmured as her pyjamas – with moving broomsticks on them – disappeared beneath her thick red blankets.

Katherine barely brushed her teeth and pulled on some pyjama-like robes Agatha Tatting had made for her from her trunk before she fell into a deep, what felt like magical, sleepy state.

Her stomach full, and her eyes finally completely closed for the first time since leaving Claremont, Katherine fell into a dream-filled sleep; safe from faceless enemies.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 6: Confronting the Faceless (preview) ~*_

" _N.E.W.T level, we're a bit ambitious aren't we –" he said in a light tone, smothered in a well-bred arrogance "– presuming you'll pass your O.W.L's?"_

" _So ambitious, it's a wonder why the sorting hat didn't put me in green robes too." said Katherine, distractedly checking the chapter guide of the book for the section on Dementors._

 _Katherine barely noted a surprise-filled-pause._

" _Greengrass would have smothered you in your sleep."_

" _That sounds like her."_

" _There are some dark spells in there." he said, his eyes on the book again. Something akin to reverence flickered in their depths._

" _Defensive spells."_

" _You can use a spear as a walking stick, but it doesn't change its nature."_

" _Well, when you have a loony chasing after you with a spear, let me know how you feel about technicalities."_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Confronting The Faceless

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **{Edited on 13/09/2019}**

* * *

There was a lot more to spells than waving your wand and saying a few flowery words, Katherine quickly discovered.

Students of all ages were lifted up into the air by their ankles, tripping over thin air, and erupting in tentacles – all before eight o'clock in the morning, and seemingly with little to no effort.

The allusion of ease had first been shattered when Katherine and her dorm mates passed James Potter and Peter Pettigrew hiding in an alcove; Peter's wand trained on an unsuspecting Slytherin boy.

"You're over-doing the swish, Pete –"

James corrected his motion.

"– and you're emphasising the 'Flip' when you should be emphasising the 'endo'."

There was a flash of light, and the Slytherin was thrown back into a curtain that promptly began trying to strangle him.

Katherine's first Charms lesson, however, had been on the Summoning Charm which only Lily and Sirius Black had gotten first try. The Gryffindors had the subject every Thursday with Professor Flitwick and the Ravenclaws.

It wasn't the soft subject many implied it was, but it was significantly easier than Transfiguration with the Gryffindor Head of House in which they were learning how to vanish objects.

James Potter had progressed from coins to kittens within the first lesson, much to McGonagall's resigned delight, because as a result, it gave him an excuse to lounge with his friends.

" _How was your summer, Professor?" Sirius had asked once he had become the third person – behind James and Remus – to progress to kittens._

" _Lovely, and completely none of your business." said McGonagall, thumbing through the parchments on her desk with a twitch in the corners of her pursed lips._

" _The family went to France," said Sirius, flexing his arms behind his head, "I ate this snail that was a dead ringer for Griselda Greengrass."_

" _Positively riveting." said McGonagall as she lifted her bony nose from her stack of parchments and reshuffled them, but her severe features were somehow less so._

The animosity between Gryffindor and Slytherin was tangible in the halls, only cut through by the hexes and curses the members of the houses threw at each other between classes.

Katherine had quickly become used to snide comments – the bare minimum to maintain one's aversion to the house.

Potions was an exception to the rule, silent sneering and a bit of argy-bargy in the ingredient cupboard being the height of the enmity, for one reason and one reason only. Slughorn.

Professor Slughorn; the walrus-moustached and pot-bellied man, put the two houses on a level playing field. So long as Lily outshone everyone member of his own house, Gryffindors and Muggleborns were the new craze.

Lily and Katherine had bonded swiftly over their knowledge of the muggle world.

They had been walking together to History of Magic, the lesson before Katherine's anxiously awaited first Potions lesson, when thundering footsteps slapped the stone floors behind them. Roaring laughter increasing in volume the closer it got.

Katherine was pitched forward into Lily as a shoulder barged past her, belonging to a messy head of jet black hair.

"No running in the hallways –"

One of the three boys that barrelled past behind James Potter flicked Katherine's plait.

Lily stood glaring after the boys, straightening her robes and battling a red rash that inched up her neck from her heaving chest.

But the two crossed the hall and stepped into the History of Magic classroom after the boys.

"Lily! How was your summer?" James asked, sitting backwards on the chair in front of Lily.

"Sod off, Potter." said Lily, absentmindedly twirling her wand.

James grinned, Katherine thinking that he looked very handsome when he smiled. He was almost a man, all of his child-like roundness in the face all but gone.

"I will, but tell me how your summer was first." James persisted, shooting a grin at Katherine.

"I didn't have to see your face once, so automatically that was a pretty good start." Lily quipped, visibly drained by James' presence.

James wasn't deterred.

"Excellent, I'll wear a paper bag over my head when we marry." he resolved, turning in his seat and facing the front of the room as Binns began his lesson.

Katherine was only distracted from the lesson a few times. Not that it was hard to be distracted from Professor Binns' ceaseless droning. He didn't even need to take breaths considering that he was very much dead.

The distractions had come in the form of James Potter and Sirius Black.

James regularly mussed his hair and rolled up his sleeves, neither his hair nor his sleeves seeming to stay where he wanted them. And he managed to noisily clean his glasses, always smudging the lenses as he adjusted them on his nose every other minute.

And Sirius tilted his chair back precariously, only on two of its four legs. The toes of his scuffed yet obviously expensive black oxfords peeked over the top of his black hair where he propped them up on his desk. His head leant back into his hands he kept behind his head.

When the bell rang, Sirius' became unbalanced, further back on the two legs than ever before. His arms went out immediately but found nothing.

"Baise-moi mort!"

Katherine flinched at the swearing.

But before he could hit the floor, James caught Sirius by the hand. The chair clattered to the ground and Sirius found his feet.

"Cheers, mate." Sirius said distractedly, running a hand through his hair as he righted the chair with a flick of his wand.

"Pick that up in one of those swanky French Restaurants?" James asked with a teasing side-way glance, mussing his hair.

Sirius' smile was slippery, "In the red light district one late summer night actually."

Murmurs of disdain were heard as the girls headed for the door; the name of the house of snakes being hissed appropriately as they shared their next class with them.

"Maybe you can ask Snape about his new loyalties, Lily," said Marlene, "Look, there he is now with his good friend Evan Mulciber."

The weedy boy that Sirius and James had made a spectacle of at the welcoming feast was not towered over by Mulciber, but still almost hidden from view by the other neckless boy's meaty shoulders. The two ambled along with a group of other Slytherins, the group complaining at large about the working conditions in the greenhouses in the lingering summer heat.

Katherine remembered Lily's insistence that James and Sirius would hex people 'just because they could' but the only time that she saw them draw their wands was when Snape hexed them first in hall, getting Peter.

But Lily didn't see that. She only saw the boils erupt all over Snape' skin and Sirius knock him on his backside.

The crowd seemed to be with James and Sirius, everyone laughing at an embarrassed Severus.

James and Sirius lost Gryffindor twenty points apiece.

Their expressions were interesting to watch at Lily's chiding and point taking. They went from defensive to disbelief to acceptance. They never said a word in retaliation to Lily. Though there were a few eye rolls, all from Sirius, they never ratted Snape out for starting it.

Lily had to miss the start of class to take Snape to the hospital wing and Sirius had crouched down by Peter and magically reversed the enlarged nose that Snape gave him. James had held out a hand and lifted Peter up with a smile, patted him on the back, and then they all walked on to Potions.

Katherine was at a loss without Lily when she walked into the Potions classroom.

Everyone took turns walking to the ingredient cupboard, it being too small for too many people to be in at once. When Katherine took her turn, gauging that most people had already gotten their ingredients, she had the cupboard to herself as she wandered it in awe.

Katherine looked from her book with the list of ingredients to the bottle labels. The potion called for powdered Moonstone, syrup of Hellebore, powdered unicorn horn, and powdered porcupine quills.

"Definitely new."

Katherine turned away from her book to find James Potter standing behind her with a smile, nodding to her book. He moved out of the doorway and took up the space beside her as he reached for ingredients, squinting at the labels despite his glasses.

Before Katherine could even think to reply, Mulciber squeezed into the cupboard, reaching for one of the many bottles of powdered unicorn horn. But he misjudged the distance and instead knocked a broken bottle of Hellebore onto James' shoulder.

"Argh, you've ruined my favourite robe!" James exclaimed, a hint of mirth in his tone as he tried to spell the stain out, "You can't just go around ruining people's favourite robes – it's very impolite."

Katherine contained her laugh, leaving the cupboard after having collected all of her ingredients.

It was then that Lily swept in with a grin at Katherine.

"Sorry for being late." Lily apologised as she put her textbook down on the bench across from Katherine.

Snape stalked into the room barely a moment after the words left Lily's lips, his eyes scanning the room. He glared at the bench where Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus were already brewing before he found that the only spot left was next to Lily. He gulped, his body stilling before he took up the spot next to Lily with pained detachedness.

Around the room, various signs that the Draught of Peace had been brewed incorrectly cropped up.

The room seemed to be filled with a permanent sulphurous odour, Slughorn having had to crack a window before waving it out.

Green sparks had erupted out of Katherine's peripheral vision. And, perhaps most entertaining and concerning of all, Peter's potion exploded and set his robes alight.

"Ah! What do I do?" Peter hopped from foot to foot.

"Personally," said Sirius, looking up from his potion, "I'm a big fan of ignoring the problem until it eventually just goes away."

"Pettigrew!" Slughorn rushed over in alarm, "Shrug off your robes!"

Peter pulled off his outer school robes, stomping on them to extinguish the flames.

James and Sirius were snickering on the other side of the bench, Remus turning pointedly away to work on his Potion.

After the amusement surrounding Peter's flammability died down, the room as a whole went back to their potions. But the incident had distracted Katherine, her having been doing her last stirs.

She was supposed to do three clockwise stirs and three anti-clockwise stirs. But she had lost count of her anti-clockwise stirs, sure that she accidentally did four. So with bated breath, she picked up the bottle with the very last of the ingredients she needed to add.

And, adding the last seven drops of Hellebore, a silvery cloud gently rose up over Katherine's cauldron. The soft POOF had caught Slughorn's attention immediately, as well as Lily and Snape's as they were directly across from her. Neither of them had finished yet.

Slughorn waddled over and peered into her cauldron.

"Well, it's simply marvellous!" he remarked, his smile jolly, "Twenty points to Gryffindor."

"Thank you, Professor." Katherine accepted with a quiet smile.

"I've been meaning to come over here all lesson to greet you properly," said Slughorn, regarding her for a moment with senile smile, "You look a great deal like your mother,"

Unease hooked through Katherine's stomach and gave it a tug – _down_.

"But that hair isn't Florence's…"

"Your Father dropped my class in his sixth year," Slughorn went on, raising his eyebrows thoughtfully. His face suddenly split open with a grin, "Handier with a broom than a ladle, I dare say,"

He gave Katherine a good-natured elbowing, before his eyes focused on something far off – a memory.

"It probably also had something to do with your mother missing her sixth year…fancied her from the end of their fifth year, he did…"

Slughorn laughed heartily and Katherine too found a light laugh in herself for the man, despite the painful clenching around her heart.

Her father should have been able to tell her all of these things himself.

"I do hope you keep up the good work." Slughorn commended her before turning to check other students' potions.

Katherine's eyes lifted to Lily and Snape across from her and found herself uneasy. Snape was glaring at her.

Lily was visibly impressed, her eyebrows slightly raised and her lips gently pursed as she leant over the bench to observe Katherine's potion.

Looking the furthest away from Snape as possible, Katherine caught the eye of James Potter.

She smiled out of compulsion, going to turn away.

But then he smiled back. Genuinely.

Mildly surprised and endeavouring to conceal it, Katherine shyly looked back to her potion. She would need to put a small amount in a phial for Slughorn to mark and clean her cauldron before the end of the lesson. So she started on that, avoiding curious glances from her classmates.

* * *

When not in classes, meals, or in the common room, Katherine had taken to visiting the library. There she found old newspapers, and the smiling faces of her parents waving up at her from a yellowed Daily Prophet next to an article that announced their murders by dark wizards unknown.

 _She did look like her mother_ , Katherine noticed. So much so that in the colourless photograph she thought she was looking at herself.

Most days, Lily would accompany Katherine to the library.

But early Wednesday morning, before their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Katherine had gone alone.

The library wasn't as empty as she anticipated. Almost every time that Katherine had gone to the library one or all of the fifth year boys had been combing the shelves, something most unusual according to Lily.

And they were there once more, lurking by the roped off section of the library.

"You really shouldn't –"

"Just look the other way would you, Moony –"

"We haven't even covered _Crinus Muto_ yet –"

"Don't be a wet blanket –"

Breezing through and ignoring the suspicious eye of the librarian Madam Pince, Katherine made a bee line for the Dark Arts books as usual.

The night she had seen her only relatives struck dead on their front stoop was never far from her mind, and although she hadn't yet fallen victim to the Gryffindor versus Slytherin hallway skirmishes, she wanted to be prepared. Especially after learning that she was sharing the castle with the sons of the men who had attacked her.

Katherine struggled reaching for ' _Confronting the Faceless_ ', unsure if Madam Pince would give her a life ban for using a levitation charm on any of the books. She barely noticed when a presence bloomed behind her, expecting it to pass.

It didn't.

A hand reached up, going beyond her own. The hand was large and elegant, with spidery veins beneath the unblemished alabaster skin; distinctly male. The long fingers – on which the little finger sat a gold signet ring with a minute engraving of words – deftly pulled the book she wanted from the shelf.

Katherine followed the hand as it pulled the book down, her eyes trailing up the sleeve to see the Slytherin crest before anything else.

"Here you go."

The voice was quiet but rich, Katherine meeting a pair of forget-me-not blue eyes as she snapped out of her observation.

The book was extended to her in the short space between the pair.

"Thank you." Katherine breathed out, accepting the book with coveting eyes.

Her eyes returned to the boy, he had taken a surreptitious step back but made no move to leave. His impeccably shined oxfords remained pointed towards her, along with the rest of his body. He reclined against the shelf with languid grace and nodded towards the book, his eyes never leaving her.

"N.E.W.T level, we are a bit ambitious aren't we –" he said in a light tone, smothered in a well-bred arrogance "– presuming you will pass your O.W.L's?"

"So ambitious, it's a surprise the sorting hat didn't put me in green robes too." said Katherine, distractedly checking the chapter guide of the book for the section on Dementors – the creature, of which she had learnt the name of after describing her encounter on Claremont to Lily.

Katherine barely noted a surprise-filled-pause.

"Greengrass would have smothered you in your sleep."

"That sounds like her."

"There are some dark spells in there." he said, his eyes on the book again. Something akin to reverence flickered in their depths.

" _Defensive_ spells." said Katherine.

The boy tilted his head. A myriad of expressions passed behind his eyes before he gave a surreptitious shake of his head and frowned.

"You can use a spear as a walking stick, but it does not change its nature."

"Well, when you have a loony chasing after you with a spear, let me know how you feel about technicalities."

Katherine expected him to tense or sneer, or give her a verbal lashing.

But the boy in front of her simply raised his eyebrows. His pale eyes became brighter as they regarded her, "You are not at all what I expected…"

"I could say the same about you," said Katherine, her eyes flickering to the green and silver crest and back, "But then again, I haven't seen you with Snape's crowd."

"Snape's not in my year."

"Which budding psychopaths are your dorm mates, then?" Katherine asked, "Nott? Lestrange?"

His lips curved but as he went to open his mouth laughter echoed over the aisles of dust and bound knowledge. The boy he cleared his throat, stepping back.

"The ladder's over there," he said, nodding to the mentioned object and turning as he spoke, "For the next time you set your sights beyond your reach."

The boy, his name still escaping her, spared her an undecipherable look before he swept out of the aisle.

The ringing of the bell jolted Katherine into action, signing out the book and navigating the student-spotted hallways.

When Katherine entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, mostly everyone else had arrived. The chairs and desks had been moved already. But Professor Giles had yet to emerge from his office.

Lily too watched the office door, but her attention was split to where James Potter and Sirius Black were playing hangman on the chalkboard.

James was the scribe whilst Sirius had Peter levitated in the air as a real life sacrifice. But, instead of hanging, with each wrong answer Sirius lifted Peter higher and higher. When he reached the ceiling with the final wrong answer, Sirius relinquished control.

Before Peter could splatter, James speedily transfigured a rug into a mattress. It was as Peter bounced from the mattress and onto the ground that Professor Giles opened his door.

Something relaxed inside Katherine at the familiar brown curls and crooked nose.

"Today's lesson will cover the magical creatures that you will have to encounter in your O.W.L's."

And that they did.

The vast array of animals that could murder you in unusual circumstances confounded Katherine. Towards the lesson, tiring from hunger and finishing up her notes, Katherine found Lily – her notes finished – glancing her way.

Katherine smiled, "Alright, Evans?"

"Alright, Spencer," Lily returned, "I was thinking about having lunch on the lawns – what do you think?"

James' head lifted up out of the corner of Katherine's eye.

"I think that it sounds like a brilliant idea," Katherine smiled, looking out the window, "While the weather's still good…"

The bell rang barely a second later, everyone rushing for their bags and the door. Katherine included. She had just slung a leather strap over her shoulder when she heard her name.

"Katherine," Giles called.

Katherine pulled on her other strap and turned.

Giles was sitting against the front of his desk, his ankles crossed and his hand beckoning her, "Stay behind for a moment, please."

"Of course, Professor." Katherine nodded, inclining her head as she manoeuvred around the leaving students to his desk.

Giles' protruding brown eyes left her as he reached for a piece of parchment behind him on his desk. He turned back, extending the parchment as he looked between the leaving students and Katherine.

Katherine's eyes flickered over the parchment, ruled lines separating times throughout the day; Monday to Sunday.

Realising what it was, Katherine thought back to when she had been called to Dumbledore's office the previous night.

* * *

 _She hesitated at the double doors, taking a deep breath before knocking._

" _Come in."_

 _Katherine gulped as she pushed open the doors, closing them behind herself before even looking at the Head Master. And, when she did look, she found Professor Giles leisurely reclining in one of the two seats in front of Dumbledore's desk._

" _Have a seat, Katherine," Dumbledore invited softly, his wrinkled and bejewelled fingers hovering over a glass dish, "Sherbet lemon?"_

 _Katherine sat gingerly in the chair beside Giles', shaking her head at Dumbledore with a taught smile, "No thank you, Professor."_

" _Very well," Dumbledore accepted, unwrapping one for himself and popping in his mouth, "As to why you're both here –"_

 _Katherine glanced sideways at Giles._

 _The man still leant back with poise; both arms on the arm rests, one bent to bring a hand to rest beneath his chin._

"– _It is very early in the days of Katherine's return to our world, but it is inevitable that Voldemort will be made aware of her returned presence," Dumbledore began, his eyes falling on Giles with a twinkle, "And she will need to be trained to defend herself against him should the need arise."_

 _Giles frowned but nodded, moving his hand along his jaw before letting it fall against the arm rest, "I will make myself available for extra lessons for Miss Spencer."_

 _Dumbledore turned to Katherine and she felt suddenly transparent._

" _Do not look so worried, my dear," Dumbledore insisted softly, "He is just a man,"_

 _Dumbledore smiled gently._

" _He will fall," He inclined his head to skewer her with his gaze over his half-moon spectacles, "You will make sure of that."_

 _Katherine blinked once at his words, taking on the weight they carried._

" _Why me?" Katherine blurted out._

 _She felt Giles look at her, but Dumbledore was the one to speak._

" _Voldemort –"_

 _Giles twitched._

"– _was trying to eliminate threats to himself while on his quest for ultimate power. Your parents were his ideal followers…apart from the fact that they refused when he offered them the gift of joining his ranks… he couldn't leave such a threat just floating around."_

 _Giles took a long breath, uncrossed his legs, and crossed them again._

 _Katherine guessed that the talk made him uncomfortable. He seemed about the right age to have been a student himself when it had all started again after Grindelwald, and she doubted he wanted to have to try his luck a second time in a war._

" _But what does that have to do with me?"_

" _Loose ends," said Dumbledore with a glance to Giles before he fixed Katherine with a kind smile, "The offspring of such a talented pair would be just as much of a threat given time, and if he let you live… you might one day seek him out in revenge."_

" _But what makes me so special? Surely he's orphaned heaps of kids?" said Katherine, getting the distinct feeling of a half-truth from the wizened wizard on the other side of the mahogany desk._

 _The pale blue eyes, absent of twinkle, confirmed her suspicions._

" _It is getting late," Dumbledore suddenly declared, turning to Katherine, "You should return to Gryffindor Tower, Katherine."_

* * *

"I've devised a schedule for our meetings," Katherine's head picked up at Giles' words, finding him offering her a small smile, "Are these times suitable for you?"

Katherine forgot her words at his smile.

It was rare that he smiled. It made him look younger. It made him look…

"Oh, y-yes, they're fine." Katherine jumbled out in one breath, tucking her hair behind her ears.

His smile remained but his eyebrows pinched together, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly at her. He extended his arm and tapped the parchment gently with his wand. It promptly duplicated.

Katherine pulled the two apart, one in each hand.

"Excellent." Giles reached for the schedule closest to him.

Katherine nodded, her empty hand dropping to her side.

"See you, Professor." Katherine farewelled quietly, turning and leaving inelegantly.

Katherine found the girls on the lawns, glad that they were in conversation when she plopped down.

Falling back against the grass, Katherine cursed herself for being such a bumbling idiot and threw her forearm across her eyes.

"Come on, Katherine," Marlene's voice tore her from her misery, "Bask in the sun – while it lasts."

Katherine slid her arm to her forehead, squinting against the sun.

James Potter, lounging and looking hopefully at Lily from a few yards away, didn't count. Neither did his four dorm mates that he had dragged along.

Frank, not as socially awkward, had waved at Alice warmly. A gesture that she had returned bashfully.

Two tall heads that shone bright gold in the sun caught Katherine's eye. She followed the glint to the banks of the Lake, three Slytherins strolling together.

The boy and girl that had initially caught her eye faded into the background when Katherine spotted the gelled black hair of the younger boy with them. The boy from the library.

Katherine immediately tapped Lily's knee.

"Who's that?" Katherine asked, nodding down where the three Slytherin's still strolled.

Lily looked between the three despite the sun in her eyes, "Who?"

"The one with the black hair."

Lily frowned, watching the boy for a moment.

"Regulus Black."

"Sirius' little brother." Alice contributed as she stood up.

The girls were all busy brushing the grass off of their skirts and socks but managed to cast glances down to the boy in question where he stared into the impenetrable lake water.

"Poor sod," Marlene hauled her bag onto her shoulder, "Malfoy's dangling next year's Slytherin captaincy over him whenever he needs something done – _and_ so that he puts in a good word for him with blondie's father,"

"With the amount of inbreeding in their family, I'm surprised that there was even half-a-genome capable of producing a hair colour other than black..."

"Lucky Narcissa…" Alice sounded wistful.

 _Lucky was an understatement_ , Katherine thought as the girls turned to walk back up to the castle.

Narcissa was the most beautiful girl that Katherine had seen, possibly ever. She had an air of royalty; in the way she walked, glanced, and in the way that she never had to fix her hair.

"His parents are cousins, aren't they?" Lily asked, sniffing.

"Are you surprised that he isn't deformed?" asked Katherine.

"His morals just might be," said Mary, "The Blacks are a dark lot."

"Fancy him, Spencer?" Marlene ribbed Katherine, "He may be a Fourth Year but he's our age, so he's fair game."

"I ran into him in the library this morning," Katherine admitted, "I just didn't know his name."

"He didn't hex you, did he?" Alice asked, aghast.

"No," Katherine answered quickly, "He just helped me get a book down."

"Did he drop it on your head?" Marlene joked, pausing to reach down and pull some grass from inside her shoe.

"Oh, yeah," Katherine agreed sarcastically, "He beat me silly with _'Herbology: An Encyclopaedia'_."

An already familiar head of messy jet-black hair flashed past Katherine.

A neater, elegantly windswept head of hair was at his side. As always.

"He accused me of transfiguring all of his undies to look soiled in front of father –"

"Did you?" James asked Sirius, barely restraining his laughter.

" _Of course I did_." Sirius answered without hesitation, opening his mouth to launch into his previous tangent.

Watching the back of Sirius' head, Katherine wondered how she hadn't noticed that Regulus looked unnervingly like him. Despite knowing of the Blacks' reputation from Giles and spending most days in classrooms with Sirius, her fellow Gryffindor was the only one of his family she'd ever seen – and still, she and Sirius had never even spoken.

She wondered if they were deserving of their family's reputation…

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 7: A Beetle and a few Geese (preview) ~*_

" _Oh, the Gryffindor Black, couldn't we do a number on you…"_

 _Sirius flinched and sucked his cheeks, and Rita; getting her desired reaction, preened._

" _I could do a number on you too, Rita, but I don't really fancy Azkaban," Sirius recovered, his haughty countenance falling back into place, "So bugger off, you're making my coffee taste bad."_

 _Rita's eyes narrowed behind her insulted spectacles and stormed away, an acid green quill quivering after her._

" _Sirius," said Remus, half amused and half solemn, "I have a feeling that'll come back to bite you one day."_

 _Sirius smiled around the rim of his mug before putting it down and stretching his arms, "So long as there is money in my vault, she won't so much as write the birth announcements of my children."_

" _Imagine a world where Rita Skeeter could be classed as a credible news source…" said James, his eyes set on the stained glass windows fragmenting the morning sun into blues, greens, and reds._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: A Beetle and a few Geese

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **{Edited on 14/09/2019}**

* * *

"A Ministry official is missing."

"I wonder what happened to him…"

"Oh, I don't know…"

Katherine glanced up to catch Sirius Black's eyebrows raised far too high for sincere contemplation.

"Maybe he spontaneously combusted?" said Sirius, pushing up his robes and displaying an angry, jagged pink scar running the length his forearm.

Peter put his cup of pumpkin juice down, "Really?"

Remus put the Daily Profit down, shooting Sirius a look before turning to Peter.

"Don't listen to him, Pete."

Sirius leant forward on his elbows, looking around James to where Peter was.

"Hundreds of people spontaneously combust each year," Sirius' face was blank but his eyes glittered, "It's just not widely reported."

Mary Macdonald noisily clambered over the bench and sped down the Great Hall to the double doors.

"Is she okay?" the words tumbled out without much thought on Katherine's part.

Lily looked uncomfortable, "The Ministry official that's missing… it's her Dad."

"Any comment on your father's involvement in the production of a vaccine for Dragon Pox and Splattergroit, Potter?"

The two girls snapped up, not having taken into account their surroundings.

"Yeah: he's involved in it," said James, his head swivelling tiredly to the obscenely made-up Slytherin girl leering behind him, "You can quote me on that, seal it, and priority owl it to that bint Jasmine Copper that you've become a lap dog for."

Her smile was acidic.

"Tisk, tisk, little Potter," said the girl, tilting her head, "The things I could do with my creative license and your reckless words…"

"Print anything defamatory about 'little Potter' and you'll be up to your stupid rhinestone specs in discrediting letters from numerous esteemed members of the Wizengamot." said Sirius from beside James, not even looking up from his coffee that he was shovelling sugar into.

But the girl only seemed to become more enthused, her smile wider as it landed on Sirius, something that was not exactly an uncommon occurrence when girls and Sirius were thrown into the same cauldron.

"Oh, the _Gryffindor Black_ , couldn't we do a number on you…"

Sirius flinched and sucked his cheeks.

Rita, getting her desired reaction, _preened_.

"I could do a number on you too, Rita, but I don't really fancy Azkaban," Sirius recovered, his haughty countenance falling back into place, "So bugger off, you're making my coffee taste bad."

Rita's eyes narrowed behind her insulted spectacles and stormed away, an acid green quill quivering after her.

"Sirius," said Remus, half amused and half solemn, "I have a feeling that'll come back to bite you one day."

Sirius smiled around the rim of his mug before putting it down and stretching his arms, "So long as there is money in my vault, she won't so much as write the birth announcements of my children."

"Imagine a world where Rita Skeeter could be classed as a credible news source…" said James, his eyes set on the stained glass windows fragmenting the morning sun into blues, greens, and reds.

"She'd be writing fictions about James' poor children before they could even ride a broom," snorted Sirius, folding his copy of the Daily Prophet and wetting the tip of a quill in ink, "Now, what's six letter word for –"

The rest of the boys' conversation was muffled to Katherine's ears, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to Mary…

"Everybody, don't forget that Quidditch trials for the Gryffindor team _are_ tomorrow evening!" James announced as he prepared to leave breakfast, his wand at his throat.

A few people walked up to him to sign up last minute, the buzz at the tables being at a relatively normal level for late morning.

"He's a bit frazzled, don't you think?" said Katherine as the fifth year boys left the table.

James was constantly pushing his sleeves up and adjusting his glasses. But, in his distracted state, his hair was the neatest that Katherine had ever seen it. Especially considering that Lily was around.

Katherine didn't think that it had anything to do with Rita Skeeter either.

"Slytherin doesn't need to hold trials this year," said Lily, "It's a team full of their best boys from fourth to seventh."

Katherine frowned, "No girls?"

"Not this year anyway,"

Katherine felt the familiar flick of her plait as the fifth year boys migrated past them.

"I still can't believe Greengrass…" Lily trailed off, eyeing the girl in question as she paraded down the Hall to her spot at the Slytherin table.

The altercation in the Menagerie was not easily forgotten when Greengrass shared most of Katherine's classes and wasn't averse to glaring at Katherine through all of them.

It was in the Entrance Hall on the way to Herbology that Katherine saw a familiar face from the train, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain; Alexander Wood. He rushed past her without so much as a glance, all but barrelling into her, his eyes set on where three boys stood by the One Eyed Witch.

Bertram Aubrey and Dedalus Diggle were flanking Alexander, the three moving like they did on the Quidditch Pitch as the Ravenclaw Chasers.

"Oi, testicles left 'n' right." Alexander called out, closing in on the statue and the boys.

Sirius turned with a bored expression, "I better be the right one."

"I need the pitch tomorrow evening," Alexander declared, his hands on his hips, "I checked with McGonagall and she signed off on it."

James almost fell where he stood.

"But we need to hold try outs!" James spluttered.

"You'll have to do it next week," said Alexander, "It's my last chance to win – I graduate at the end of this term –"

"So do we!" Fabian and Gideon Prewett chorused, stepping up to either side of James and Sirius.

"Gideon, you don't _play_." said Alexander.

A quick mirthful glance between the twins made Katherine wonder if perhaps Gideon _did_ play sometimes.

"I spectate," Gideon argued lightly, pulling back his shoulders, "I like announcing that Gryffindor is trouncing whoever they're playing,"

He pointed to the badge on his robes.

" _And_ , I'm Head Boy."

"Take note, Longbottom," Fabian told Frank off to the side, "That's the sort of bias you need to uphold when you take over spectating duties next year."

"Gryffindor have won the last two years in a row," Alexander groaned out, his eyes wide in incredulity, "The least you can do is give me the pitch tomorrow evening to give us some semblance of hope."

James' resolve was visibly crumbling.

"What will you give us in return?"

Sirius stood beside James with crossed arms and a tilted head.

"Sorry?" Alexander frowned.

Sirius uncrossed his arms and stepped up to Alexander, the Fifth Year half a head shorter and significantly leaner than the Seventh Year. Sirius looked behind Alexander at the burly Bertram Aubrey and Dedalus Diggle, unfazed, before looking back to Alexander.

"Two bottles of firewhiskey for our victory party after we beat you – _despite_ lending you the Pitch – should suffice." Sirius bargained smoothly, his face an impassive mask.

"Fine," Alexander blew out in a heavy breath, extending his hand firmly, "You've got yourself a deal, Black."

James cleared his throat.

"Potter." Alexander amended, switching the direction of his handshake.

Katherine shook her head as she passed, smothering her laughter.

Sirius' head lifted.

 _He had strangely keen hearing_ , Katherine noted as she avoided his eyes in passing on the way to Herbology with Lily and Marlene.

"Don't forget to keep away from the Venomous Tentacula!" Professor Sprout reminded her Fifth Year class, the overbearing strangling plant snapping threateningly at their backs as they worked on their self-fertilising plants.

Katherine used a non-verbal ' _Diffindo_ ' to prune a section of her plant, frowning at the smell of Dragon Dung in the air.

Two Hufflepuff boys had been given detention for smearing it on the greenhouse's glass windows when escaping the Venomous Tentacula.

"Where's Mr Potter?" Professor Sprout asked as she corralled a particularly rowdy plant with Stebbins who was clutching a hand to his eye.

"No idea, Professor," said Lily, "But let's take this time and hope to Merlin that the Giant Squid has eaten him when nobody was looking."

James wasn't the only one missing, Katherine noticed. Mary Macdonald was nowhere to be seen.

Lily and Katherine's conversation turned to the absence of Giles from dinner, breakfast, and classes, and Katherine found herself elbow deep in dragon dung and the happenings of the night before term started.

"So you think that Dumbledore might have him on some secret mission or something?" Lily finally asked.

"Well, yeah," said Katherine, feeling like it wasn't that large of a leap to make, "That night, he mentioned something about 'The Order' and having to tell them that everything had gone well – there could another me out there for all we know."

"The Order of the Phoenix."

At Katherine's frown, Lily shot her an apologetic smile before elaborating, "The ministry won't admit that they've got a new dark wizard at large so soon after Grindelwald got locked up in Nurmengard,"

Lily glanced around before continuing.

"Dumbledore started an underground group dedicated to bringing down You-Know-Who a few years back after he launched an attack on St Mungo's,"

Lily went on.

"The Prewetts already have their names down for as soon as they graduate," said Lily with a shrug, "But Dumbledore usually only takes on older, unattached witches and wizards, they're an exception because…well… _they're exceptional_."

"Let me guess," said Katherine, "The Order doesn't exactly pass Occupational Health and Safety standards?"

Lily snorted.

The two worked in silence on their plants throughout the rest of the double period.

The reality that there were people out there fighting for their safety, at that very moment, against dark forces that seeked the destruction of their world as they knew it, settled oppressively over them.

Katherine had been so absorbed that she barely noticed Sirius and Peter walking around the perimeter of the room, seemingly inspecting plants, only doing so when she finally shooed the buzzing beetle from her hand only for it flit around Sirius' face.

Peter lifted his textbook, ready to flatten it, when Sirius caught his arm with impressive dexterity.

" _Christ_ , Pete, it's just a bug," said Sirius, casting a glance in the direction of the dumpy witch that was their Professor, "Remember what Sprout said about flora and fauna in our first year."

"Before or after you got three months detention for using a _Bombarda_ on greenhouse one when you found that Acromantula spinning silk for the Aconite plant?"

Sirius' lips slipped upwards and the pair resumed their inspection of plants.

The beetle seemed to grasp its close call and disappeared.

When the bell rang, despite inhaling dragon dung for nearly two hours, Katherine managed to work up an appetite and moved swiftly off to lunch and only stopped to use the bathroom and give her hands an extra-long scrub.

"There are some things I can just smell." James had said as they passed.

"Like a sixth sense?" Peter asked seriously.

"Actually, that would be one of the five." said Sirius drily.

Katherine's plait was flicked yet again as the boys moved behind her and Lily.

"You'll be smelling a whole lot of other stuff in Care of Magical creatures next, mate," Remus assured James, "Don't stress your abilities."

At the edge of the Forbidden Forest a pen had been set up with hay and a hybrid creature that sparkled underneath the sun.

"Ooh, the jewels are just darling!" Dorcas Meadowes, a Ravenclaw girl, gushed.

The class was lined up. Katherine, her arm flush with Lily's, tilted her head as if to see the creature from another angle. But it still had six vicious crab-like claws, a tortoise head, and bejewelled shell.

"His face is sort of… endearing." said Katherine, attempting enthusiasm.

Lily spared her a sideways smile as she observed the creature fondly.

"Don't be fooled," she warned lightly, "When they feel threatened, they shoot flames out of their arse."

"I bet you two sickles, Pete –" James Potter began from the other side of Marcus, "– that one of those burns will get you out of attending Charms."

"I'll bet you ten sickles that it won't." said Sirius, arms crossed.

"Get ready to lose ten sickles _and_ get knocked off your high hippogriff," said James with a grin, nodding at Peter, "Go on, Pete, make it a pearler."

" _Ten_ _sickles_ , _oh–no_ ," said Sirius sarcastically, "Whatever will that do to my Gringotts vault?"

James rolled his eyes, standing tall beside Sirius as they watched Peter go in.

"It'll take the _tip_ off a _mountain_ of silver, I'm sure." James replied drily through a grin.

"Peter," Remus started, moving after the boy, " _Don't_ –"

Peter let out a yelp, clutching his shin where the very fabric of his trousers had been burnt away.

Remus muttered something beneath his breath before turning to Professor Kettleburn, "Professor, I'll take Peter to the Hospital Wing."

Kettleburn turned, his wispy white eyebrows raising despite the obstacle of his eyepatch.

"What's happened this time?" Kettleburn asked.

"Two sickles by the looks of it." said Remus resignedly.

"Madame Pomfrey will fix that in minutes, Pettigrew, never fear!" Kettleburn called, attempting optimism.

"Or ten…" Remus muttered.

Sirius grinned and held out his hand to James.

James swatted it away.

"Later." said James, rolling his eyes with a small smile.

"I know you're good for it." Sirius accepted with a shrug, leaning his forearms against the pen.

For their O.W.L's, the class would have to clean out their pen without getting too severely burnt.

Katherine, watching the crabs crawl at tortoise pace, hoped it would be as deceptively easy as it seemed. But it didn't stop her from hoping that that in Charms Flitwick would cover something that would help her become fire-retardant.

But in Charms they were moving on to silencing charms and fire- _making_ spells. A few wise-cracks from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw boys later (about the scenario's silencing charms might be used) and Katherine was coming up with increasingly more far-fetched reasons for Giles' absence.

After dinner, she found herself strolling the castle, going past the serpentine corridor where most teachers had an office for students to visit outside of class. She knocked on Giles' door out of curiosity. When there was no answer, she tried the knob. It didn't even jiggle – let alone turn.

"Miss Spencer."

Katherine's navel was hooked by anxiety, turning her around.

Tartan robes stood in the doorway of the next office down, Professor McGonagall's.

"What has you out of bed so close to curfew?"

Katherine thought she'd try for the truth, "I was wondering if Professor Giles…"

Professor McGonagall's frown was sympathetic, "He won't be running his classes until the end of the week. He is running correspondence between Dumbledore and the Ministry."

"Oh." Katherine stood there lamely.

Before Katherine could pass her and take her leave, a mass rocketed past the office and McGonagall flicked her wand to bring it to a halt.

Sirius Black strolled back to McGonagall's office that he had over-shot with his speed, placed his hand on the doorframe and shifted his weight across his hips. His pockets bulged with packages of food.

"Nice evening." said Sirius, looking around and shooting honeyed smiles to McGonagall and Katherine.

"I need to ask where you were between Herbology and Lunch, Black."

"Why is it that when a rumour spreads that someone transfigures all of the plants in the greenhouses to ducks that you immediately think of me?" he asked, amused, shaking his hair back out of his face, "James is the best at transfiguration."

McGonagall's chin lowered as she looked over the top of her spectacles, "So it wasn't you?"

"No." said Sirius, his face deceptively innocent.

McGonagall's lips had an imperceptive twitch, "Get out of my office, Black."

"Absolutely," he accepted eagerly.

"They were _geese_." he said against the shell of Katherine's ear, before all but leaping away.

"And stealing from the kitchens like some sort of _marauder_ …" McGonagall tisked, shaking her head.

Sirius did a double take. His eyes flashed like silver lightning under the torch light before he loped off in the vague direction of Gryffindor Tower noisily.

"You too should return to Gryffindor Tower, Spencer."

Katherine nodded and made to follow Sirius with a quiet murmur of " _Lumos_."

The journey back to the Tower should have been easy after dark, only teachers and Prefects about.

The sound of clanging armour halted Katherine's journey before she left the Entrance Hall however. She paused and turned around. It felt suddenly colder, unsure whether or not it was just from the fright, Katherine wrapped her robes around herself tighter.

The hall was empty behind her. Or it appeared to be, at least.

She swore that she could hear breathing but dismissed it. Passing it off as Peeves and not wanting to indulge intrusive worries about teenage Death Eaters, Katherine turned her back on the hall for the last time that night, looking forward to crawling back into bed.

Before she could make it very far, she was stopped by a very peculiar sight.

James Potter was hanging upside down by his ankle in front of the staircase, supposedly by invisible forces.

But she hadn't been the first to stumble across the scene.

Giles walked back and forth beneath the boy in a thick travelling cloak with un-gelled hair.

Katherine waited on the corner to the Entrance Hall.

"Potter?" Giles asked in incredulity, frowning up at the boy.

James opened his mouth, the shape of his lips indicating that he said ' _Professor Giles'_ , but not a sound had left his mouth.

Giles persisted, "What are you doing?"

An annoyed expression crossed James' face, his glasses slipping ever so slightly up his nose. His face was starting to take on a pink tinge, veins in his forehead beginning to bulge as the blood rushed there.

Giles waved his wand.

"I repeat: what _are_ you doing, Potter?"

"Nothing, you know, just hanging." James finally answered, appearing unaffected.

"I'm not going to dock points… Miss Vance would surely use an unforgiveable on me if I did," Giles began, trailing off with a pensive expression before one of resolve locked his features, "Detention; Saturday, Potter, I'll send you an owl with the details."

"Lovely," James accepted nonchalantly, "Could I have a hand to get down?"

"Get yourself down." said Giles, before sweeping away.

Katherine waited for Giles to be well and truly gone before flicking her wand at her side.

A groan and a yelled ' _thank you'_ followed her from the hallway.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 8: Deadly Fun (Preview) ~*_

" _James never makes bad passes." piped up Peter._

 _Sirius snorted, "It's impossible to make a bad pass when you don't pass."_

" _And he never seems to be able to evade detentions either," Remus said pointedly, "James, don't you have to go see Professor Giles?"_

" _Yeah – the smug git," said James, cleaning his glasses on his jumper, "I'm starting to see why you don't like him, Sirius."_

 _Sirius hummed non-committedly as the girls passed them in the courtyard._

" _He's the best teacher we've had since second year – I don't understand why you don't like him, Sirius." Katherine heard Remus say._

" _I know him, that's why," Sirius grumbled, "Come on, James, chuck us your cloak – I'll come with you to see Giles."_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Deadly Fun

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **{Edited on 16/09/2019}**

* * *

The second Saturday of term came quickly. And it started with being pushed into the doorframe as Katherine walked to breakfast.

With a glare at Greengrass that was punctually returned, Katherine found her dorm mates in the middle of the Gryffindor table.

"I can't wait for a Hogsmeade weekend…" Marlene moaned as she rested her chin on her hand, a wistful sigh chasing her words, "Lily?"

Lily rubbed up and down between her eyebrows, "The weekend before Halloween is the soonest date that we could all agree upon."

The Gryffindor boys dripped down the Great Hall to sit across from the girls, their brooms kicked under the bench from their early morning fly in the rain.

"James, that last pass was right out." said Remus, preparing to launch into the rules.

"James never makes bad passes." piped up Peter.

Sirius snorted, "It's impossible to make a bad pass when you _don't_ pass _._ "

"And he never seems to be able to evade detentions either," Remus said pointedly, "James, don't you have to go see Professor Giles?"

"Yeah – the smug git," said James, cleaning his glasses on his jumper, "I'm starting to see why you don't like him, Sirius."

Sirius hummed non-committedly as he held a hot bowl of soup in both hands.

"He's the best teacher we've had since second year – I don't understand why you don't like him, Sirius." said Remus, righting his Prefect badge.

"I know him, that's why," Sirius grumbled, "Come on, James, chuck us your cloak – I'll come with you to see Giles."

* * *

Katherine buried herself in the bookcases of the library for the rest of the day. Even Lily wasn't lured by the idea, so Katherine was left on her own.

Katherine was working on her Divination homework – an annotated diagram of a hand for their unit on palmistry – when Madam Pince's feather that poked from her hat, quivered just out of Katherine's peripheral vision.

"Katherine," said Madam Pince, slowing by Katherine's chosen table by the window, "Potter has detention and needs to help put the returns back,"

James stood behind the hook-nosed librarian, eyeing the shelves with ill-disguised boredom as dozens of stacks levitated around him and onto Katherine's table.

"Make sure that he doesn't set half the library on fire, please."

"Certainly, Madam Pince." said Katherine, immediately reaching for a stack of the returns.

"How come she doesn't hate _you?_ " James asked, thumbing through the first few pages of a large tome disinterestedly.

"I don't dog-ear the pages," said Katherine, flattening out the page of one of the books in her pile.

She looked up and nodded at his bulging robe pocket.

"And I don't smuggle food in."

"That's a bit unreasonable to ask of a bloke…" James murmured, putting back a book in the ' _L_ ' section.

Katherine turned and crossed the aisle to put a book back in the ' _S_ ' section, and when she turned back she had to hold a hand to her chest in surprise.

Sirius stood next to James, his reproving gaze set on the pages of a Dark Arts tome.

James peered over Sirius' shoulders, curiosity plain on his features.

"Those books are dangerous," Katherine warned, turning to put another book back, "You don't even need a wand for the spells in there."

"Right, you can't just go ' _librum incinderae_ ' and expect –"

A surprisingly high-pitched shriek made Katherine turn around resignedly. The boys were urgently slamming the hard cover of the offending text closed.

James offered her a quick smile, adjusting his glasses before turning back to Sirius.

The latter of the boys was picking up another book curiously, looking at the numerous stacks in horror.

"Giles has got you working like a House Elf…" said Sirius.

"What's that old adage that Mum sticks by when you come round in the summer?" James asked goadingly, "A task shared is a task halved, or some rubbish…"

Sirius looked down his nose at a stack of books before he reached for it, sighing, "Doing this is going to give me all the good karma points I need for the _rest_ of my _life_..."

Katherine worked in silence, smiling to herself at the things the boys would say, stifling laughter at times, until she could no longer.

"I… I've got to take these books a couple aisles over," Katherine announced, unsure whether they would care, "You won't set any more fires while I'm gone, will you?"

James shrugged, peeking inside the cover of a book, "No promises."

Katherine gathered the largest stack so far and wobbled it two aisles over. It was as she was looking for a table to rest them on that she lost the book off the top of the stack. She didn't hear it hit the ground.

Katherine saw a long, veiny hand carefully place the book on the table, and then the entire stack was taken from her hands.

"I'd like to apologise for Sirius," said a soft voice.

Relieved, and shaking out her hands, Katherine met the forget-me-not blue eyes of Regulus Black.

Regulus stood, forearms flexing under the weight of the books, and smiled.

"Our parents didn't give him enough attention as a child."

Finally, he put them down on the table Katherine had intended to before his intervention. He turned, one hand on the back of the chair and another smoothing back his already smooth black hair.

His gold ring caught the light and Katherine's attention before she turned away to grab a book from the stack.

"I think that this is the part where you're supposed to make a crack at me for not having any parents." Katherine joked, looking at him out the corner of her eye as she returned a book.

Regulus slowly cracked a grin, reaching up to wipe the corner of his lips with his thumb. His gaze was unflinching.

"You don't know me very well then."

He lifted a tome to read the title, grimaced, and then put it away in the shelf.

Katherine watched him curiously all the while.

"That's easily rectified." said Katherine blithely.

"Oh, yes," Regulus agreed sarcastically. He met Katherine's eyes with a certain dare glinting in his that would not be out of place on his older brother, "Shall we take a stroll through the hallways arm in arm?"

"I could make us friendship bracelets."

"Not if I do it first."

Katherine laughed uninhibitedly, surprising herself, and wrinkled her nose.

A low laugh spilled from Regulus and his posture relaxed. He went to lean back against the bookshelf –

"Oi, Spencer –"

James paused at the mouth of the aisle, a book in his hand; forgotten.

Regulus cleared his throat, stepped back, and stole away past James to the next aisle. He threw one last look over his shoulder at Katherine. Something imperceptible simmered just below the alabaster skin.

Katherine found herself disappointed by his quick departure. With a sigh, Katherine put her last book back and left the aisle, ignoring a blinking James.

"James, where are you, mate?" Sirius' voice carried over the aisles, "Did you find her?"

"I found her about to snog your brother."

"You're kidding,"

Katherine could imagine Sirius leaning back uninterestedly.

"Good thing you stopped it; he's a horrible kisser."

Katherine almost hoped to find Regulus in the hallway. But she didn't. There wasn't anyone else in sight either.

A long, pained _MEOW_ , however, made Katherine pause in the middle of the hallway, ears peeled for another. Sure enough, there was.

Katherine walked towards the sound, hoping Belle was up in Gryffindor Tower.

A broom cupboard was where Katherine's ears led her. She paused at the door, suspicion sparking in her gut, but she opened it anyway. She was promptly pushed in, turning as she fell to find nothing behind her. Straining her eyes for any sign of a Disillusionment Charm, she came up empty.

The door slammed on her before she could look for anything else.

The click of the lock made her face become heavy with horror. She scrambled to her feet, throwing herself against the wooden door. She beat it with her hands, forgetting that she was a Witch.

" _Hey!_ " Katherine cried, "LET ME _OUT!_ "

Hopelessness settled in her like a Bezoar in a goat's stomach.

Just as she reached for her wand, something slithered around her ankle. A shriek jumped up Katherine's throat, her casting the quickest ' _lumos_ ' of her life.

Under the new light, she almost wished that she hadn't.

A dark mass of tentacle-like roots shrunk back slightly under her wand-light. She was trapped with Devil Snare.

Remembering back to what she had read about the plant for Herbology, Katherine stilled. It would only kill you faster if you struggled. That was what made it so popular for assassinations.

Watching it and endeavouring to not move, Katherine wracked her brain for a way to ward it off.

 _Devil Snare, Devil Snare; it's deadly fun, but will sulk in the sun_ , Katherine recalled with glee.

She swiftly rotated her wand, " _Incendio!_ "

The plant immediately receded at the swirls of fire. The tentacle around her ankle went first, to her relief. Watching it coil in on itself, Katherine ensured that it was tamed before she turned her back on it.

" _Alohamora!_ "

The lock didn't budge.

Panicking again, all of the unlocking spells Katherine knew flew from her mind. She just had to get _out_.

" _Reducto!_ "

In a flash of light, the door was reduced to dust.

A morsel of guilt flared up in Katherine as she stepped over the pile into the lit hallway.

Remembering the Devil Snare and the dusted door, Katherine's feet immediately started working again. A good thing, too, because Katherine heard Filch's voice just as she skirted around the corner; luckily out of sight but straight into a chest – something pricking her neck.

"THE _DOOR!_ " Filch exclaimed, his boots slapping against the hallway floor " _Filthy_ , little cretins –"

Katherine heard Filch mutter something about ' _the old punishments_ ' as she looked from the un-pinned Head Boy badge that had pierced her skin to the honeyed orbs it belonged to.

"Sorry about that…" Gideon murmured, the pads of his fingertips burning against the skin either side of her shallow wound as he craned his neck in inspection, "Didn't expect to be flattened at this time of night,"

Katherine gulped as he squinted at her vulnerable flesh, but was unable to find words; something that seemed to happen whenever Gideon Prewett was close by, Katherine had learned over the past two weeks.

He brought the scent of ink, parchment, and a certain musk wherever his golden head bobbed around the castle.

"You're not leaking when you breathe?"

Katherine shook her head.

"Dizzy from blood loss?"

Again, Katherine shook her head, the smallest of smiles blooming on her lips as she held his eye for a second longer.

It was in giving him that extra second of attention that she caught his mischievous smile that she usually only saw directed at his twin lest he lose his good reputation as Head Boy.

"Ravenously hungry because you've missed dinner doing merlin-knows-what with merlin-knows-who?"

Katherine choked on the out of character assumption and found her voice, "I was in the library."

"You always are – I've seen you every time I go."

An uncomfortable heat spread through Katherine's cheeks, behind her eyes, and hugged her ears.

"I haven't noticed you before." she lied.

She sincerely hoped that he didn't have a sneak-o-scope on him, because it would be going off at her blatant lie, exposing her.

But when he only quirked his lips and shifted his weight across his hips, Katherine almost sighed in relief.

It meant that her sideways glances through the candlelight and her peeks through the shelves as she fetched a new book remained private.

"Well, I've got your attention now, and I'm on my way to the kitchens as it happens – if you're hungry, you could always accompany me?" said Gideon distractedly, righting his Head Boy badge.

Katherine was planning to politely refuse and go to bed hungry rather than subject herself to any further humiliation. But then her stomach all but roared at the mention of food, her having forgone lunch while absorbed in the stacks of books in the library.

"Come on, then," said Gideon with a smile, nodding and turning.

"There was an older student that showed me the kitchens when I was made Prefect in my fifth year – she wasn't a Prefect, not even close…quite the rule breaker, actually… I caught her on her way down. She, of course, didn't give up the location out of the goodness of her heart, but couldn't deny that as a Gryffindor she had no business lurking about the Hufflepuff common room…"

And at the Hufflepuff common room entrance was where they made a right turn and found themselves in a broad, stone corridor that was brightly lit by wall sconces.

Katherine walked it slowly behind him as there were many food-themed paintings on the wall that begged to be admired.

He simply found the painting at the end of the corridor with a bowl of fruit and promptly tickled the pear. The pear giggled and turned into a door-knob that Gideon used to pull open the portrait.

Nothing prepared Katherine for the enormous, high-ceilinged room. It was as large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end.

"Mister Prewett!" a small, grey creature blurred past Katherine to her companion.

It wasn't unlike a goblin; similar in size and skin colour. But the creature gazing up through tennis ball sized eyes at Gideon in rapt admiration had none of the mean, unsavoury demeanour that Katherine associated with goblins.

"There's my favourite House Elf!" Gideon dropped down to his haunches, levelling with the creature – the _House Elf_ , it seemed to be named, "How are you, Binky?"

"Binky is well!" the House Elf beamed, "Having both Miss Black and Mister Prewett in one night!"

The surname made Katherine's head snap around so fast that she cricked her neck.

Unnoticed before in her initial sweep of the room, was a brilliant head of shining blonde hair by the fire, a bottle of Butterbeer glinting in a dainty hand with an equally glinting ring upon the second last finger. It didn't fit. The wrought silver swung around her knuckle in a graceless show Katherine would have never expected from the girl.

But her Head Girl badge, backed with green, glinted and divided Katherine's attention once more as Narcissa Black became aware that she had company.

"Prewett." said Narcissa congenially, standing and vanishing her bottle of Butterbeer with her wand.

"Bla – Mal – _er_ , Narcissa, don't leave on our account." said Gideon, standing as Binky busied herself with a handsome collection of silver bowls.

"Nonsense," she flicked a slender wrist, her ring swinging again which she frowned at before righting it, "I have to meet my cousin,"

"Good evening, then." said Gideon, inclining his head.

"Yes, good evening, then, I guess…" Narcissa returned thoughtlessly, sweeping out and only faltering when she caught sight of Katherine.

Narcissa narrowed her eyes at Katherine before disappearing out into the corridor. The heavy wooden door clanked noisily behind her.

"Please tell me that you hate treacle tart and that I can have this one all to myself."

Katherine turned, having stared at the door long enough for a cloth to be thrown over the end of the table that corresponded to the Gryffindor one above and several dishes to be prepared. A treacle tart sitting amongst them like a green beacon.

Slowly, Katherine sat. A knot formed in her stomach at the prospect of a candlelit meal shared with Gideon Prewett.

"How are your classes?"

 _His nose wasn't completely straight_ , Katherine realised in the new light; as she didn't usually spend time with him around candles. It made him less intimidating – enough, anyway, for her to not become tongue-tied.

"Good, I…I'm settling in quite well."

 _He needed to shave_ , Katherine also noted; the combination of candlelight and firelight catching the blond hairs on his cheeks and throat.

" _Quite well_ doesn't get you an invitation to one of Slughorn's do's, you must be a dab-hand at Potions."

 _His teeth weren't even or entirely straight – but still much better than hers_ , she observed as he smiled across at her.

"I'm alright at Potions, but my best class is…" Katherine broke off, wrinkling her nose in hesitation.

"Yes?"

 _His upper lip was thinner than the bottom_ , she discerned as she steeled herself once more.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Naturally."

The talk of classes sent Katherine's mind galloping off in the direction of the homework she still needed to complete for the coming week.

"Actually, I have a star chart to finish for Astronomy that I should really get onto," said Katherine as she stood, tripping on the cloth as she all but hurtled the bench, "I'll, er, see you around."

She felt his confusion before she heard it lacing his farewell.

"See you…"

But she had closed the door without turning back, running through the halls while keeping an eye out for Filch and Mrs Norris.

 _She wondered if he had stared at the door after it clanked shut like she had done after Narcissa left…_

Deciding to not lie to Gideon, guilt flaring where she assumed her spleen was, Katherine went to the Astronomy Tower after stopping by the library to retrieve her books.

It was there, on the first landing of the Astronomy Tower, that she saw Narcissa once again.

Pausing in her surprise, Katherine deduced that Narcissa was talking to someone – _her cousin_ , Katherine assumed, before recognising the slicked back black hair in the blue moonlight.

"Nice ring." said Regulus without a trace of appreciation in his tenor, bent at the waist with his forearms leaning on the balustrade.

"I feel like a prize pig."

Regulus looked down at his right hand where Katherine knew his gold ring resided on his little finger, "The men's signet is more refined, I dare say… the Black family one anyway…"

Narcissa murmured something indistinct to Katherine's ears.

"Prestige comes with its burdens – but never contempt for one's family." said Regulus, shifting his weight between his legs.

Narcissa moved to mirror him, her waist significantly narrower and her hair shining brighter in the blue-dark.

"Second thoughts, cousin?"

"Countless thoughts, Narcissa."

Feeling as if she were intruding on a private moment, Katherine stole away up the winding stairwell to the very top of the Astronomy Tower, only to find that clouds obscured most of the constellations she needed to map.

The earlier day's rain still chilling the air, Katherine marked off the phase of the moon – half – and made to head back to the dormitory and warm herself after a scolding hot shower.

The encounter with the Devil Snare and an invisible assailant had been assuaged by running into Gideon and then the subsequent running away from Gideon, but had come back full force as she slumped down the stairwell.

She was only distracted once more by Narcissa and Regulus, catching what seemed to be the tail end of the conversation as they made slow steps from the balustrade.

"When's the wedding?" asked Regulus, visibly far from enthused, even in the dark, as he clasped his hands behind his back.

Narcissa suddenly looked very human, her hair glittering and frizzing from the beads of rain that had managed to fall diagonally into the Tower, "The eighteenth of June, wear any colour but black."

Regulus nodded, seemingly without a teasing word or a double meaning to impart.

"Regulus?"

Regulus hummed and continued stepping, unperturbed.

Narcissa's small pumps had stalled, her dainty hand – the one absent of her too-large ring – closed around Regulus' elbow, stalling him too.

"Cissa?" asked Regulus, something flashing beneath his shadowed brow akin to concern.

Narcissa's eyes gleamed as she looked at a flagstone at Regulus' feet instead of the boy himself.

"Watch him."

"What do you mean by…?"

At his broken sentence and seeming revelation, Narcissa looked up, satisfied that he had gotten her meaning that escaped Katherine.

The two shared a gloomy silence.

Regulus shook his head, looking more his age than ever before, "Sirius wouldn't…"

"Wouldn't he?"

Before she risked getting caught eavesdropping, not trusting her luck after so many near misses in one day, Katherine rushed back to Gryffindor Tower.

She found Lily on her bed, brushing out her hair.

Katherine took a breath before sitting with her.

"You'll never guess what happened at the library."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 9: Ducking off for Tea with You-Know-Who (Preview) ~*_

" _What do you know of love, Lucky?"_

 _He regretted the sip, it quivering and pulsing both up and down his throat; scalding all the while, "Love, my lord?"_

" _Yes…love." said Voldemort as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth._

" _I have resigned myself to an existence without it," said the man, placing his tea cup on the saucer and then even further down onto the table, "It's dangerous."_

" _Powerful?"_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Ducking off for Tea with You-Know-Who

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **{Edited on 20/09/2019}**

* * *

"I bet these are the stairs he pushed that bird off all of those years ago…"

"Come off it, Lestrange."

Two long and lithe masses lurked by a mahogany balustrade, oil lamps lining the wall of the corridor stretching out behind; casting a weak glow over the wooden panelling entombing them with dust and cabinets of family heirlooms.

" _What?_ " Lestrange asked, aiming for innocence but achieving something akin to a sneer, "Like you haven't wondered, Nott – what with all of these meetings happening here in the old Montague house..."

"It's not that old," said Nott. He gripped the balustrade and gave it a bracing shake to test its integrity, "And Margaret only kicked the bucket around a decade ago, the house elf's kept it in alright condition…"

"That doesn't look like blood, does it?" said Lestrange, his own hands resting on the balustrade. He nodded down at a darkened section of floorboards, stained with something more than varnish, "Down there on the floor?"

"I insist that you cease this silliness."

"Rumour has it, she was pregnant."

Just as Nott glared around at his only company, one more shadow joined them.

"Ghost stories, gentleman?"

The two whipped around, finding a tall, chestnut-curled man.

"What are _you_ doing here?" spat Lestrange, his wand slipping into his hand from his embroidered sleeve.

The chestnut-curled man, fairer than both of his younger companions in every way, simply glanced at the wand; unperturbed.

"The most accomplished sorcerer of the century requested I be here this evening," said the man, making a show of opening his arms, "So I am here."

" _ **Enter.**_ " The voice came not from any of their lips, but from inside each of their heads.

The three fell into a swift silence and strode across the corridor into the only lit room in the Wiltshire Manor, their altercation forgotten.

Dozens of colourless-robed men and women were already lining the walls of would have once been a beautiful marble-floored ballroom. In the centre was a man; more decadently robed than any other in the room.

At the addition of the three from the corridor, the door slammed shut.

"It failed?" Voldemort said rather than asked. He raised his eyebrows and peered around at his followers in accusation.

"It failed, my lord," said an auburn-haired man, kneeling, "I beg your pardon for bringing such news."

"You are pardoned,"

With a lazy flick of his wand, green light seized the kneeling man, silent in itself but followed by a hollow _THUD_. When the green had abated from the edges of everyone's vision, they found the man on the floorboards with his face in the dust.

"Pardoned from life."

"My lord…" said the chestnut-curled man, bowing his own head, "If it were anyone's fault that he didn't succeed…surely it is my own."

"And yet here you still stand," said Voldemort, pacing along the length of the body on the floorboards, "I believe that you're friends used to affectionately call you 'Lucky', am I right?"

The man nodded, "You are always right, my lord."

Voldemort watched him; he knew that, but he didn't dare meet his increasingly red eyes.

"And yet you still use your mental barriers to test my…intuition."

"My lord, I am most apologetic," said the man, lifting his eyes briefly, "It is only habit."

Voldemort waved a hand and looked away himself, pacing again, "Details of your incompetence don't interest me,"

"The old fool has taken to setting up an armed guard around of his phoenix friends inside the ministry,"

Voldemort frowned in false sympathy.

"I had to spill the blood of a good family name in our last attempt at the Ministry…a good family name turned traitorous Scottish scum…convoluting with mudbloods to produce offspring…"

His lips pulled back over his teeth; baring them in the meanest of sneers.

"Someone will see that the MacDonald daughter is also punished for her father's…misgivings…" Voldemort held out a spidery hand, closing it around thin air and bringing it to his chest, "As of yet, Hogwarts is still… _just_ out of my reach…"

A few glances were thrown around the room, those with spots visible on their shadowed faces the culprits.

"Cygnus Black heard half of the prophecy when he was still in Hogwarts," continued Voldemort, slowing by the table and placing his hands down, "But this is not enough,"

"We will concentrate all of our efforts on the Department of Mysteries from now on."

"My lord?" said a voice from the other end of the table, "Alastor Moody is part of the guard."

"Rosier, I shouldn't think that an issue," said Voldemort, flicking his hand listlessly, "Take your cousin Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus if you must."

"Yes, my lord." said Rosier.

He earned a glare from Rodolphus and the most imperceptive of lip twitches from Bellatrix.

" _Lucky_ , stay for tea, the rest of you are dismissed."

It wasn't until the room was cleared of all but two that the chestnut-curled man spoke. He watched closely as the raven-haired man flicked his wand to get all the fixings of a tea jumping into action.

"I am honoured, my lord, but rather confused by your request of me," he said, his brow furrowed as he motioned his left arm, "I don't even bear the sacred mark."

"For good reason, you know that," said Voldemort, lounging on a settee. He sighed as he cast a forearm across his eyes, "I find myself troubled lately…"

Voldemort wasn't the only one.

The other man in the room was deeply troubled by the connotations of being privy to a relaxed Dark Wizard.

"Troubled, my lord?" he asked dutifully, taking a tea cup that persistently nudged his arm from the air.

"Yes, quite," said Voldemort, taking a long sip of his own cup, "I heard a smidgeon more of my fate when I paid a visit to my dear former potions Professor after Cygnus Black brought me such delightful news…over a decade ago now…"

The red of Voldemort's eyes became less so, a slicing green instead fixing the man over the tea cup.

"I'm sure you have your reasons for withholding this from the rest of your followers."

"Yes," said Voldemort. His tone was suddenly lighter, "Yes, I do,"

The man nodded once. He finally took a sip of his own tea, satisfied that it wasn't poison as it came from the same teapot brew as the Dark Wizard.

"What do you know of love, Lucky?"

He regretted the sip, it quivering and pulsing both up and down his throat; scalding all the while.

"Love, my lord?"

"Yes… _love_." said Voldemort, as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth.

"I have resigned myself to an existence without it," said the man, placing his tea cup on the saucer and then even further down onto the table, "It's dangerous."

"Powerful?"

"I don't see those words as being symbiotic, my lord; no."

Voldemort nodded and blinked, far away for a short moment

"What about breeding the next generation to rise with me?"

"I'm sure that the Black family will have you well-equipped with soldiers until the end of your days." said the man, bowing his head.

"I had thought so too,"

A sigh was the last thing the man expected from Voldemort, who then went on to blink mournfully.

"But…Cygnus Black and Druella Rosier…Orion and Walburga Black…so admirably set on breeding a generation conforming to my ideals…with immense talent…have failed to do so…"

"Their offspring have taken to marrying mudbloods…befriending half-breeds and blood-traitors…" his teeth became bared once more, "It makes me _sick_ …"

"What of Bellatrix? And her sister Narcissa – she has just announced her betrothal to the Malfoy heir?" asked the man.

A wry smile was bestowed upon him, "Bellatrix is blinded and besotted by my appearance…fading already…but still, fading…"

A spidery hand was, once again, lifted. In the moonlight streaming through the grimy window, it became apparent that the skin was flaking and discolouring.

"You romanced her, did you not, to bring her into the fold?" asked the man. He kept his eyes and thoughts far from the increasingly inhuman spectacle that was the man lounging on the settee.

He remembered the summer it had happened… only two ago…

Bellatrix had just married a newly marked Rodolphus Lestrange and they were hosting a winter ball, to show how well they were settling into their union. Bellatrix pretended to not know about his mistresses. Meanwhile, Rodolphus pretended to not notice his self-depleting liquor cabinet. Her sister had just run off and married a muggleborn, being promptly disowned. It was a shame he didn't quite understand – or want to.

" _Without a word?! Without a goodbye?!" Bellatrix had screeched, "We are born into this privilege! It is our birth-rite to rise above some common actions and set a standard for how purebloods should behave!"_

It was perfect timing. Bellatrix was a witch at the very heights of vulnerability and tied to a husband she did not want. There was a passion – malleable into devotion – simmering beneath her alabaster flesh.

It appealed to the darkest of lords, begging to be added to his arsenal by any means he knew possible.

"I'm…not…proud of it," said Voldemort slowly, shaking his head and clicking his tongue, " _Witches and their acceptance of a Wizard's wiles…_ "

The man didn't have anything to offer on the subject, and remained silent with his hands clasped behind his back.

It seemed, however, that Voldemort wasn't finished; peering at the man out of the corner of his eyes.

"Only one witch has ever proven unsusceptible…you and I both know who that was…"

A million waves crashed at once in the man's stomach. The floor might have swallowed his ankles.

 _Yes_ , thought the man bitterly, _he knew exactly who that had been_.

"No child resulted of that temporary union, my lord?" he asked, as he was expected to, despite knowing the truth.

Voldemort hummed. Passiveness was leeched into by a light rage, plastered across his wasting features.

"A son was taken from your powerful lord by a set of stairs, believe it or not…"

"You're still young, my lord," the man gulped, "You could always take further advantage of Bellatrix's unfailing loyalty."

"As soon as I eliminate Miss Spencer, there will be no end to my days and no need for an heir."

It was as if all of the air seeped out of the room through the floorboards beneath their feet. Left was a choking, palpable silence.

"My lord?"

"I have found the…final solution…if you will." said Voldemort with a deceptive amount of detachedness.

It was, perhaps, the most important thing he had revealed all evening.

The man bowed his head to hide the disconcertedness he felt all the way to his spleen, "Very good, my lord."

"I find myself impressed with you, Lucky," said Voldemort. He placed down his tea cup and stood, "You have proved a most faithful servant. You will receive the mark as soon as you are able."

The brushing down of his richly-embroidered emerald robes indicated his departure.

The lighter-haired man allowed relief to seep into his muscles despite the implication of the compliment.

"There is no greater honour, my lord," lied the man, wetting his dry lips, "I find myself…stricken… with pride."

Voldemort inclined his head and swept across the floorboards. He paused at the hearth.

"One last thing,"

The man gulped, but lifted his eyes.

Voldemort didn't notice, his own eyes set on the flames while he fondled his wand, "I've heard that she looks like her mother…"

The man's hands fell from where they were clasped behind his back. He used the fabric of his robes to wipe the sheen from his hands.

"Almost a perfect facsimile, my lord."

A mere nod, not approving nor condemning, was shadowed on the wall behind Voldemort.

"And what of her father?"

Voldemort's eyes left the fireplace with the burning intensity of the flames licking at his robes.

"A… great deal, my lord," said the man. He grappled for something inconsequential to add to prove his indifference when he was anything but, "Most notably his talent for defending himself against the arts you harness so admirably."

The bone-white-man's fingers twitched around his wand, a tick in his jaw as he gave a hostile smile and a none-too-impressed word in response.

" _Excellent."_

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 10: Halloween (Preview) ~*_

 _Remus Lupin held a frail hand to his surprisingly solid chest, "Going somewhere in a hurry?"_

 _He had the kind of smile that dazzled, tired or not, from his gently eyes, Katherine realised as she stood closer to him than ever before._

" _I was going to visit Mary…" said Katherine, blinking up at him._

" _Madam Pomfrey said I could lie down in the hospital wing, I'll walk with you," said Remus, gently nudging her into a walk beside him with his cloaked elbow, "We'd be safer together."_

 _Katherine looked around, but fell into step with him, "You think we could be attacked?"_

 _Remus frowned lightly, watching ahead._

" _Everything is different after this morning." The words came out of him at a sigh, deflating his chest._


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Halloween

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **Author's Note: Thank you for all the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **{Edited on 4/12/2019}**

* * *

On Halloween morning Katherine woke with a fright, characteristic of the very day.

Belle had jumped onto her chest, green eyes staring imperiously down at her. Turning and fluffing her tail, she made the leap across the Mary's bed.

It was then that Katherine saw that it was empty.

It was early, the purple star-spangled limbo between morning and night cast over the dormitory. Too early to be up and about.

Belle stared across at Katherine and let out a long _MEOW_ before pouncing onto the ground and to the door.

Katherine trusted her feline, but still felt silly when she pulled on her cloak, grabbed Lily's, and shook her red-headed friend awake.

"Lily,"

Freckled eyelids fluttered but didn't open.

"Lily!"

Emerald flashed and her red hair was a blurred blaze as she snapped up at the waist, "What's wrong?"

Katherine hesitated, gnawing on her bottom lip.

"It's Mary, she's gone."

The two girls; in slippers, pyjamas, and cloaks, careened down the stairs to the common room and through the tunnel to the portrait.

It was as it opened that the two girls smacked into hard chests.

Katherine rubbed her nose as she separated it from Sirius Black's chin.

James and Lily rubbed their foreheads as the Peter peeked out from behind his two friends. Remus was noticeably absent.

Wide-eyed, the groups looked at each other.

James cleared his throat, and righted his glasses, "If you don't ask, we won't ask."

Lily nodded, linked her arm through Katherine's, and the groups moved around one another.

Katherine couldn't help but notice that Peter had a lump under his jumper as they passed each other, the tails of a white sheet sticking out of them hem.

"Nice jammies, Evans." were James' parting words as the portrait closed behind the girls.

Lily pulled her cloak tighter around herself with one arm and pulled Katherine along with the other.

Belle leading ahead of them, the two girls found themselves at the base of the stairs to the Astronomy Tower.

A piercing wind howled down the stone passage, yet it still couldn't shift the prickle from Sirius' chin that still tingled across Katherine's nose.

Belle began climbing, and after only a short look between them, Katherine and Lily too began climbing the stairs.

It was near the top landing when Lily's arm shot out to stop Katherine.

Katherine rubbed her collar bone, wishing people would cease stopping her in the abrupt manner.

Lily produced her wand and tentatively edged forward, leading with the wood.

Like a ripple around a pebble dropping in a lake, Lily's wand connecting with a near-translucent film stretched across the opening to the tower.

"Silencing Charm," said Lily, frowning. She rotated her wand in a complicated little pattern, " _Finite_."

Katherine's hands couldn't clamp over her ears fast enough to block out the screams.

Belle dashed nimbly back down the steps, tail high and fluffed.

Katherine and Lily were left to go on alone. With only a moment's hesitation, they set out to charge the rest of the distance between them and the screams.

" _Crucio!_ "

A violent flash of red illuminated the staircase like a bolt of lightning.

Katherine's legs felt hot and clumsy.

Lily's hands climbed ahead of her legs in her own desperation to reach the top.

With burning lungs and with their hair sticking to their foreheads and cheeks, the two girls finally stumbled onto the landing of the Astronomy Tower.

Mary MacDonald's caramel bob stood on end as if she was being electrocuted. Her hands were like claws as her arms threw them backwards and forwards as she fitted on her side. Foam from her mouth mingled with the tears of her cheeks.

Ears ringing, Katherine's eyes found Mulciber, neckless as ever, across the Tower, his wand raised, and his eyes glinting malevolently.

"Oi!"

Lily had been more eloquent. But it did the job.

Mulciber broke focus and his torture ceased. Stepping backwards like a cornered animal, he lifted his wand anew.

" _Imperio!_ "

Mary shot to her feet like marionette. Her head, however, hung with exhaustion. Ever closer, she tip toed to the edge of the Astronomy Tower.

For a moment, Katherine forgot she was a witch.

Mulciber dropped his wand, and his jaw, in surprise.

It wasn't long after his wand landed with a hollow series of _TAP's_ that Mulciber landed beside it.

Katherine's ribs ached as she pushed herself away from the meaty shoulders of the Slytherin, their fall having entangled them.

Lily stood over them, her wand trained on Mulciber.

A whistle of wind and a flash of brown led Katherine's eyes away – to the edge of the Tower.

Mary swayed against the wind, her arms open and quaking, embracing the ground already from her height.

Katherine's heart jumped into her throat, and he legs jumped into action once more.

"Katherine!"

Lily's cry followed Katherine over the edge of the stone. But her hand had found Mary's ankle.

Katherine's muscles pulled and throbbed, overextended. Her stomach slid over the stone edge none-too-pleasantly. Her other hand reached for a hold, but they all passed – too far away. Forehead stinging with concentration, Katherine latched it onto Mary's other ankle instead.

A human ladder, the two girls were released by the tower – and gravity.

The wind stole Katherine's scream. Only terror filled her lungs. Only helplessness mingled on her tongue.

The ground approached faster and faster, fixed and large. Head-first, Katherine knew a fatal kiss was only seconds away.

She closed her eyes.

It didn't come.

Her stomach lurched, and her eyes shot open.

The ground had paused its approach, or rather McGonagall had halted the girls' fall. The emerald robes had been indistinguishable from the green grass of the lawns, but, sure enough, the pursed lips of their Head of House stared up at them.

* * *

"Miss Evans, Miss Spencer," McGonagall's voice had reached a new peak of shrillness, "I must _say_ ,"

Katherine's eyes focused on the moving photographs on her Head of House's desk. All of them depicted gold and scarlet robes, flapping in the wind.

"I have never seen such reckless behaviour on the grounds of Hogwarts,

The wind still whispered against Katherine's skin through her cloak and pyjamas, cold and light. They too, had been flapping in the wind none too long ago.

"Or bravery,"

Katherine face broke from its nipping numbness and her eyes lifted to the exasperated, yet proud, Deputy Headmistress.

"As you very well may have saved Miss MacDonald's life, I cannot punish you."

A weight lifted from Katherine's chest.

"Thank you, Professor." said Lily, breathless.

McGonagall nodded, her lips still having not relaxed from their purse on the lawns, "If you find yourselves troubled by anything that you witnessed this morning, do not hesitate to visit me here in my office."

Katherine found her voice to chorus a response with Lily, "Yes, Professor."

McGonagall took in a deep breath through her nose.

"That will be all,"

Katherine and Lily stood, their heads low under the weight of their morning.

"Oh, and Spencer?"

Katherine paused at the door.

McGonagall's lips twitched.

"Stick to brooms should ever feel the urge to fly."

The sight of Mary MacDonald, near lifeless in the Hospital wing, stole away Katherine's ability to smile.

She felt lighter, however, as she said, "Yes, Professor."

A click of the Scottish lady's tongue and muttering of ' _her father's daughter…_ ' followed Katherine and Lily out of the room.

Through the open door came a flash of green, Katherine glanced back to see McGonagall's face in the fireplace.

"Rory, I'm afraid I have an update for you…"

"Come on, Katherine, we'll miss breakfast." Lily's words were soft. So was her arm that linked with Katherine's.

Together they returned to their dormitory to dress for the day and together they made the journey through the quiet hallways to the Great Hall.

The double doors all but vibrated open, and the entire school's voices spilled into the Entrance Hall, all but knocking Katherine and Lily on their backsides. Mary's name was on everyone's lips as Katherine and Lily quickly made their way down Gryffindor table to find an empty place to sit.

"I thought I heard moaning and groaning from the grounds last night," said Alice, eyes wide, "I didn't realise that it might have been someone in trouble…"

Frank shook his head as he finished chewing his eggs, "No, those were from the ghosts that haunt the shrieking shack."

"How do you know?" asked Alice, reverently.

Frank gestured in the vague direction of Gryffindor Tower from the Great Hall, "From the boys' dormitory we have a clear view down to Hogsmeade."

Alice gasped, leaning closer.

"You saw the ghosts?"

James lifted his head from his porridge, bleary eyed yet suspicious behind his glasses, "What did they look like?"

"White, flapping about in the wind," Frank shrugged, shoving another fork-load of eggs into his mouth, "Standard stuff."

James nodded thoughtfully and returned to the hushed conversation happening between his own friends.

"You made the beds?" he said to Peter, head low.

Peter shook his head rapidly, eyes wide but tired, "I thought you made the beds?"

Sirius pulled his nose out of his coffee cup and put it down with a _CLANK_.

" _I_ made the beds."

James and Peter turned to their friend.

" _You_ made the beds?" asked James, his eyebrows just about hitting his hairline.

Sirius lifted his cup to his lips once more, haughty even given the hour of the day, "With a _spell_."

James regarded his proclaimed best mate with a large degree of mistrust.

"You didn't short sheet us, did you?"

Sirius blinked slowly, raising his eyebrows.

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

Without the conversation of the table proving much distraction anymore, Katherine found herself neck deep in her thoughts.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" came Lily's voice, a blessedly quiet sound against the roar of the hall.

Katherine hesitated before answering, "Do you think the same person who locked me in the cupboard attacked Mary?"

"Not sure. But it's most likely a Slytherin," said Lily, frowning, "almost half their table was empty at dinner on the night you were attacked because of a burst pipe in the dungeons."

"Convenient." said Katherine, popping a piece of toast into her mouth.

"What if it's your mate, Snape?" asked Marlene, eyes boring into Lily with false calm, "What then?"

Lily sighed, "I know you don't like him, Marley, but he wouldn't have done this."

"To you, right?" said Marlene, throwing a nod to the Hufflepuff table, "What about to Mary MacDonald?"

Lily was quick to clarify, pointing, " _That_ was Avery and Mulciber."

"Snape was right there with them in the days leading up to it, calling her a mud –"

Marlene broke off at Lily's tight jaw, sighing.

"I'm sorry, Lily, but he's not as good as you think he is."

Lily frowned, poking her porridge around and shaking her head.

"I just don't see it…" Lily hesitated, "And it's just a word – it doesn't define me anymore than 'muggleborn' does and it's truly lost its edge from all the times I've heard it..."

"Just a word?" Marlene laughed, "Who throttled Sirius Black in first year for accidentally letting it slip?"

Lily pinked slightly, a twitch at the corners of her lips.

"I think he fancied you for a bit afterwards," said Marlene, snorting, "The Blacks are a passionate lot, and how much more passionate can you get than a punch in the face?"

"We're going to get a move on…" said Lily with a cautious glance at Katherine as she rose from the bench, "I'll get you a sickly amount of sweets."

Katherine waved in farewell until Lily wouldn't be able to see her slip into a frown.

"Where's Pete ducked off to?"

Katherine looked up from her ruminating to see that a maroon-jumper wearing Remus had joined his friends. He was yawning, and stretching what looked like a pulled muscle in his neck if his grimace was anything to go by.

"Remus, you didn't give him over to McGonagall for getting those mandrake leaves from Herbology did you?" said Sirius with feigned outrage.

Remus simply blinked, "He's not in trouble – he's seeing a girl."

James choked on a bite of his apple.

"Peter?" James coughed.

"He asked me not to tell you two, a good decision given how you've reacted," said Remus, blanching at his porridge before reaching for some plain toast, "Well, now you know – he wasn't caught, there's no need to worry."

"Except for the poor girl." said Sirius.

James suddenly launched to his feet, "Come on, I'll grab my cloak and we'll go find Peter and the girl and we'll help along his date."

"Help it along to an early finish…" muttered Sirius before putting down his spoon, "You coming, Moony?"

"A bit too tired for it." yawned Remus, running a hand through his already tousled hair, "Have fun, guys."

* * *

Evacuated _en masse_ for the first Hogsmeade trip of the term, Katherine had free reign to pace the Castle. She didn't realise right away that her feet were carrying her in the direction of her thought, to the Hospital Wing. To Mary.

She didn't realise, however, that she wasn't alone early enough to avoid slapping chests with someone in the intersection of two hallways.

Remus Lupin held a frail hand to his surprisingly solid chest, "Going somewhere in a hurry?"

 _He had the kind of smile that dazzled_ , tired or not, _from his gently eyes_ , Katherine realised as she stood closer to him than ever before.

"I was going to visit Mary…" said Katherine, blinking up at him.

"Madam Pomfrey said I could lie down in the hospital wing, I'll walk with you," said Remus, gently nudging her into a walk beside him with his cloaked elbow, "We'd be safer together."

Katherine looked around, but fell into step with him, "You think we could be attacked?"

Remus frowned lightly, watching ahead.

"Everything is different after this morning." The words came out of him at a sigh, deflating his chest.

Katherine did her best to keep her curiosity out of her voice, "So…something like this hasn't happened at Hogwarts before?"

Remus shook his head, "It's supposed to be the safest place in the world…maybe there really is a war coming after all…"

"The last time was with Grindelwald in the forties, right?" asked Katherine, having done her reading since arriving at the school.

"He started an uprising in the twenties," said Remus, frowning, "He…he preyed on the oppression people felt under the statute of secrecy. He pretended that he didn't hate muggles but that they were 'the other', _different_. There was supremacy in being a witch or wizard. He said that we had to take care of the muggles because they weren't capable of doing so, they were baser creatures,"

Remus turned to Katherine with a smile.

"All untrue, of course,"

He sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they continued to stroll, "But the prejudice had been around since the witch trials, and it isn't that hard to tap into. It all leeched over into the persecution of muggleborns, Salazar Slytherin thinking they stole magic to infiltrate us and ruin us from the inside…"

He removed one hand from his pocket, blinking and waving it around as he went on.

"You-Know-Who, however, obviously isn't very keen on muggles and will use any means necessary to assume absolute power of the wizarding community and mobilize it against them. He isn't averse to recruiting half-bloods, giants, Dementors," Remus paused his listing, sighing and waving a hand, "Werewolves… So long as it gets done,"

He turned his eyes to his shoes.

"Apparently he has quite the silver tongue."

Katherine frowned as they walked, taking in all the new information. She found her eyes back on Remus; walking beside her, looking as if he might start whistling.

Feeling her eyes, Remus glanced sideways at her, "What is it?"

"I just really enjoyed listening to you," said Katherine, reaching out to touch his shoulder sincerely, "Thank you for telling me all of that."

Remus blinked, cheeks pink.

"Thank you for listening," he said, smiling. He paused a moment, before asking, "So what do you think of all of it?"

Katherine opened her mouth, paused, and thought before going on.

"I think that wars are fought by people that had nothing to do with starting them," said Katherine. Her mind immediately turned to Mary. "And by a lack of understanding."

She felt Remus' surprise in the air and in his eyes that pierced the side of her face.

She turned to him with a quiet smile, "And some people are just bonkers and need to be locked up."

Remus just smiled back at her.

"What?" said Katherine.

Remus gently shook his head, "I just like the way you think."

Katherine felt her eyes slip over him like a worn in glove. She had done it surreptitiously many times during classes. He usually had a look of surprised optimism about him, but he had taken on the distinct look of someone who had been blasted square in the face by an arctic gale.

"Are you not well?"

His lips smiled, but his eyes didn't dance; fixating instead on his cuffs that he compulsively straightened.

"Being a Prefect with friends that aren't exactly the rule-abiding sort can do wonders for the depletion of an already weak constitution."

Katherine nodded, and in brief reprieve from their conversation they walked, watching ahead without truly seeing.

"Lupin?"

His eyes raised to her with a distinct guardedness, "Yes?"

"I think it fits you better than it would Frank."

His cheeks, covered in fuzzy facial hair, pulled up, along with his ears.

"Katherine?"

Her named sounded foreign from his lips, and Katherine had to check for a moment that she _was_ , in fact, Katherine.

"Yes?" she asked, feeling every inch of guarded that he had been before.

His eyes glittered, "Call me Remus."

Katherine met his eyes on a whim in their moment of amusement. In an instant, there was an inexplicable rush of unity between them; their green depths so similar it was if they had laughed together many times before. When she looked away, she felt his eyes on her still – sweetly, intensely.

He opened his mouth, his eyes glinting, but then they flickered down and crinkled. He lifted a large hand to the hair hanging by her cheek and gently pulled.

Katherine looked down to his hand, a beetle fluttering on his palm.

He moved across the hallway and gently set it down on the section of balustrade open to the elements.

"You're not fond of flattening them with books like your friends?" asked Katherine, observing his movements.

Remus smiled as he watched the beetle flitter in the wind, "I make it a point to not harm living creatures."

"Well, you're definitely not heading for Azkaban after school." said Katherine lightly, beginning to walk again.

"No," said Remus mirthfully, smiling at the ground and tugging at his scarf. "We've all agreed that if anyone is going to end up in Azkaban that it would be Sirius."

Katherine laughed hard before realising that Remus hadn't, "Surely not…?"

Remus hummed distractedly.

"You've never been on the other end of his wand..."

"Why isn't he topping Defence, then?"

"He and James have natural talent out of the arse, but they're not fond of the effort required for homework," said Remus, smiling tightly and shaking his head, "Sirius will probably still get Outstanding's in all of his O.W.L's though..."

There was a bitter twist to his words.

"Then why have you lot been lurking around the library?" asked Katherine.

The two slowed, the doors of the Hospital Wing looming.

Remus gulped as he smiled at her, his eyes gently narrowing.

"For some reason, I find myself blabbing a great deal to you today," said Remus, his eyebrows pulling up. His lips fought a similar end as he pointed emphatically, "But _that_ I will take to the grave."

Katherine felt as if she were wrapped in gossamer with him right there outside the doors of the Hospital Wing.

"Mister Lupin?"

The pair jumped at the intrusion of the matron.

Madam Pomfrey turned to Katherine, "Miss Spencer?"

"I think I'm ready to lay down for a bit, Madam Pomfrey." said Remus, stepping forward.

Madam Pomfrey's frown lessened.

"Yes, yes, of course," she said, holding out a hand.

Remus stepped into her hold, letting her steer him by the shoulder.

"This way, my boy,"

She turned once he was on his way to one of the beds, her stern gaze on the only person loitering outside where her patients were resting.

"And you, Miss Spencer?"

Katherine felt small, "I just came to visit Mary."

Madam Pomfrey's lips parted, and with a breath, she bowed her head.

"Very well." The words were soft.

Like a gatekeeper, Madam Pomfrey stepped aside and waved Katherine in the direction of a sectioned off bed.

Mary faced away from the window, eyes on a chocolate wrapper she was flattening out.

Katherine cleared her throat before she announced herself, "Mary?"

Mary's eyes shot up, her face like the moon with her hair pulled back in a plait.

"Katherine?" Mary sat up, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how you were feeling…" said Katherine, locking her hands together and averting her eyes to the chair beside the bed, "I know I'm probably the last person you'd like to talk to –"

"You're the only person who's come."

The words hung heavily in the air.

"So, how are you feeling?" Katherine finally brought herself to ask.

"Like I took a walk off the astronomy tower,"

Katherine was startled by the humour and looked up to find Mary smiling kindly at her.

Mary laid herself back down, grumbling a little in pain.

"Can I ask why you jumped off with me? You could have died." she said, looking newly concerned.

Katherine's mind went blank.

"I just…it was the right thing to do," Katherine managed, shrugging. "I would hope that, were it me, someone would do the same."

Mary's eyes began to flutter, "Thank you, Katherine."

Katherine sat and waited until Mary's breathing evened out before she left and continued her pacing.

Katherine didn't spend long on her own, having to head down to dinner where her Lily greeted her once more.

Lily was in mid-retelling of their day when Rita Skeeter hobbled in; bandages wrapped around every inch of available skin, a neck brace flattening her bleach ringlets, and casts on both arms and one leg. But she was smiling as she was aided onto the bench at the Slytherin table.

"What happened to her?" asked Katherine, her awe stealing most of her voice's volume.

Lily still heard her.

"That happened just as we were walking up to the castle actually," she said, raising her eyebrows before frowning, "She had fallen – from her broom, I think – from one of the high windows on the east side of the castle."

"She was probably peeking in through the Ravenclaw dormitories," said Marlene from next to Lily, snorting, " _Nosier than Bertha Jorkins, that girl… and a bigger gossip…_ "

Alice giggled, clapping the table with a glimmer in her eyes, "Remember the time Bertha caught Florence Fortescue behind the greenhouses with –"

Alice frowned, having cut herself off, and looked either side of herself; up and down the Gryffindor table.

"Hang on, where _is_ Remus?"

Katherine's pumpkin juice circled up from her mouth to her nose, and she violently shook with her coughs to expel it.

The maroon-sweater-wearing Remus Lupin she had met didn't seem at all the type to have rendezvous' behind the greenhouses with girls.

Lily murmured a spell beneath her breath, circling her wand at Katherine, and the juice vanished from her nasal passage.

"Probably with the rest of the hex-happy-brigade," said Lily, flinging her hair back over her shoulders, "Just this afternoon I had to take points because they pulled their wands on Avery and Severus –"

"Snape probably drew first." muttered Marlene.

Lily went on, unhearing.

Katherine's eyes circled around the room, nodding and humming at the right times to appease her red-headed friend, and found that the familiar crooked nose in the profiles of the Professors was still missing.

* * *

There was a definite post-Hogsmeade gloom in the air as Katherine traipsed down to breakfast on Monday morning.

There were no floating pumpkins, enchanted suits of armour, or trick rugs.

Even Peeves seemed to have retreated to some dark corridor to mourn the weekend, no longer able to scream _"Trick, or Treat?!"_ before mercilessly tricking whoever he happened across regardless of their answer.

But Katherine knew it wouldn't be long before he resumed pegging chalk, dropping wastepaper baskets on heads, and pulling out rugs.

"Neat spell."

Katherine looked up from the stairs she was going down, habitually jumping the trick step at the base. She found two older Ravenclaws walking ahead of her; a boy and a girl, with similar almost-white hair.

The girl had flicked her wand at a levitated sugar quill and it promptly proceeded to be devoured, as if by an invisible beast, breaking apart but remaining air-bound.

"Thanks, I invented it myself," said the girl, the pre-chewed crumbs of her sugar quill floating into her mouth. She swallowed before she spoke again, "I see you've read the paper."

The boy, who had been using a hover charm on a copy of the Daily Prophet to read it as he walked, sighed.

"I wish there was someone printing the truth…"

"Why not you, Xenophilius?" asked the girl, stowing away a packet of sugar quills in the pockets of her robes.

The boy – _Xenophilius_ – took the paper from the air and folded it by hand.

"Mhmm, what would we call our paper?"

"Our?" asked the girl, smiling.

Xenophilius simply raised his eyebrows, tucking the paper under his arm before proffering his other one to her.

The girl looped her arm easily through his own, squeezing as they began to stroll again.

"The Quibbler."

Xenophilius peered down at the girl on his arm in amusement, "You think my objections to the mainstream news are petty and annoying, Pandora?"

"No," said the girl – _Pandora_ , "but people reject the unfamiliar, and anything with your hand in it will be, at the very least, unfamiliar."

The pair, Katherine trailing behind them, were just reaching the doors of the Great Hall when Lily came barrelling out of them, Marlene at her heels.

"Katherine!" said Lily immediately, her eyes wide as she halted at the doors.

Marlene, however, nodded at the older Ravenclaws in turn, "Lovegood…Malfoy..."

Lily finally stepped towards Katherine, looping her arm through her friend's, "Let's go to the library! Come on!"

Katherine resisted, her eyes fixed on the Great Hall.

"I really wanted a coffee –"

Katherine was cut off by a Hufflepuff howling as they ran past, a gaggle of other Hufflepuffs trailing and laughing.

"What's going on?" asked Katherine, trying to peer into the hall.

Lily mirrored Katherine at every attempt, effectively blocking any view she might get of inside the Great Hall.

"She's going to find out eventually." said Marlene.

A look passed between the heads of red and brown.

"…Alright," said Lily, sighing, "But have your coffee first."

Katherine did, sitting down with her friends across from their male counterparts at the table.

It was when Sirius finished his usual morning crossword and folded the paper back over that Katherine saw her name – and a newly familiar photograph of her parents.

"Hey – that's my name!" said Katherine. She reached for a copy closer to her breakfast, staring at the photograph of her parents holding her as a baby outside of a house, "Why am I in the paper?"

"We didn't get much further ourselves before we came to find you…"

Sound twisted around her ears, the bench seemed to sink further below her. Katherine was only semi-conscious of her mouth falling open.

 _ **KATHERINE SPENCER: SAVIOUR OR SILLY SCHOOL GIRL?**_

 _THE FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD HAS RETURNED TO THE WIZARDING WORLD ELEVEN YEARS AFTER HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED MURDERED HER PARENTS; WILLIAM AND MARY SPENCER, AND MARKED HER FOR DEATH ALSO. IT HAS NEVER BEEN REVEALED WHY THE FOUR-YEAR-OLD HAD BEEN TARGETED AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE, BUT MANY ARE UNDER THE BELIEF THAT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE WAS A PART OF A CONSPIRACY TO TRAIN WITCHES AND WIZARDS FROM A YOUNG AGE TO HARNESS IMMENSE MAGICAL SKILL TO TAKE OUT THREATS SUCH AS DARK WIZARDS._

 _IT IS UNCLEAR WHY SHE HAS RETURNED AT THIS TIME, NOT ATTENDING HER FIRST YEAR AT THE SCHOOL – AS MANY RELIABLE SOURCES HAVE CONFIRMED. BUT IT IS STRONGLY FELT THAT THE MUGGLE ATTACK BY MEANS OF DEMENTORS AND DARK WITCHES AND WIZARDS UNKNOWN ON CLAREMONT SQUARE IN ISLINGTON, LONDON, WAS LINKED TO HER RESURFACING, AND WAS SUSPECTED AS SOMETHING MORE MAGICAL THAN JUST GANG VIOLENCE – ALTHOUGH REFUTED BY MINISTER FOR MAGIC; MILLICENT BAGNOLD._

 _YET AGAIN, MORE CONJECTURE SURROUNDS WHETHER OR NOT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED HAS CAUGHT MISS SPENCER IN HIS SIGHTS ONCE MORE, AND, PERHAPS MORE WORRYING FOR PARENTS AND CONCERNED MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY, WHETHER HOGWARTS HAS BECOME A TARGET –_

"Well it will now that she's said it!" Lily erupted –

– _MISS SPENCER DOES NOT SEEM TO BE TOO CONCERNED, SEEN COSYING UP WITH FELLOW FIFTH YEAR GRYFFINDOR REMUS LUPIN IN THE HALLWAY WHILE THE REST OF THEIR CLASSMATES WERE IN HOGSMEADE AND CURSING OTHER STUDENTS IN THE HALLS FOR FUN –_

"For _fun?_ " Lily cried –

– _FELLOW STUDENT, GRISELDA GREENGRASS, HAS GIVEN US THE EXCLUSIVE ON WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WALK THE HALLS WITH MISS SPENCER…_

Katherine had to take a break and laugh madly for a moment. She returned to the article, no fewer than three paragraphs down, that had detailed her possibly being a werewolf with her barely restrained anger and abnormally hairy face and knuckles, and how lycanthropes were very in line with Voldemort –

– _AGATHA TATTING, ESTEEMED SEAMSTRESS AT THE INFAMOUS TWILFITT AND TATTING, SPARED A FEW WORDS WHEN WE STOPPED BY HER SHOP IN DIAGON ALLEY._

" _KATHERINE SPENCER WAS A JOY TO HAVE IN THE SHOP, VERY POLITE AND GRACIOUS," TATTING SAID, "SUCH A SHAME ABOUT HER PARENTS, YOU KNOW… I DRESSED EVERY SPENCER AND MONTAGUE SINCE THE DAY I STARTED WORKING HERE AFTER MY MOTHER'S PASSING."_

 _WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE SPENCER AND MONTAGUE FAMILIES, TATTING HAD THIS TO SAY… "THE SPENCERS WERE VERY FOND OF THE COLOUR NAVY, ALAS, BEING MOSTLY IN RAVENCLAW… THE MONTAGUES… WELL, THEY FAVOURED GREEN."_

 _BUT, LIKE HER PARENTS WHO WERE ODDBALLS IN THEIR FAMILIES, KATHERINE SPENCER WAS SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR – THE HOUSE KNOWN FOR PRODUCING THE WIZARDING WORLD'S FAIR SHARE OF HALF-COCKED, ARROGANT HEROES. ONLY TIME WILL TELL WHETHER KATHERINE SPENCER WILL FALL PREY TO THE STEREOTYPE._

"What a _load_ of rubbish!" said Lily, throwing down the paper.

"The Prophet is about as trustworthy as something that fell of the back of a broomstick, I'm telling you…" said Marlene, glowering over her porridge at the offending paper.

"But how did they know that I lived on Claremont?" asked Katherine, reaching for the paper again.

Lily swatted Katherine's hand.

"You lived on Claremont?" asked James from the across the table.

"All my life." said Katherine, raising her eyebrows as she continued to eye the paper.

Sirius leant back aloofly, though there was a twitch of something further in his brow.

"Come on, James," said Sirius, stretching his arms above his head, "She's just a bird, we've got better things to do than interview her,"

Peter's laughter felt hot against Katherine's ears.

"Jasmine Copper's already done a thorough enough job."

Lily took Katherine's arm comfortingly, "That's enough, Black,"

Lily gently tugged on Katherine's arm.

"Come on," Lily urged Katherine, "Let's go to class."

Katherine couldn't meet anyone's eyes as Lily gently guided her away.

" _Honestly_ ," Lily muttered to herself, "The _nerve_ of that boy."

But, as the day got underway, Katherine realised that not many people would share Lily's sentiment.

On the walk from Breakfast to Transfiguration, students both young and old openly stared at Katherine. She heard her name on the lips of people she couldn't name. Equally good and bad things followed her name. None of them true.

There was a brief reprieve during Transfiguration. McGonagall's pursed lips and stony stare over her spectacles was enough to silence even the most frantic of gossipers.

The walk from Transfiguration to Potions, however, was pantomime. Everyone had time by then to digest the news and fine tune their teasing.

Greengrass had been particularly vocal about the areas of Katherine's appearance in which she was lacking.

Whereas, the combined genius of the student body produced eerily accurate howls that followed Katherine to the bathroom, through the hallways, and seemed to echo through the secret passage Giles' had shown her. She had used it as an escape, and to give her fellow Gryffindors a break.

Remus, still ill, winced every time a group of howling students made a pass.

Arriving at Potions, Katherine was greeted warmly by Slughorn.

"There's the hero of the hour!"

Greengrass' smile had faltered for the first time all morning. She filtered past in a stream of her fellow Slytherins, all but gaping at Katherine and Slughorn.

"Professor, it's a rather embellished retelling…" said Katherine, lowering her eyes. A burn had crept up her neck.

Slughorn waved a hand.

"Nonsense!" he cried, laughing with a hand on his stomach, "I remember your parents – great people, _great_ people!"

He leant forward with conspiratorial eye.

"And it seems that they've passed it on to you – hey, hey?"

Katherine summoned a tight smile and bowed her head, "I'm sure they were, sir."

The reminder that they were no longer living had Slughorn clearing his throat and fussing everyone into their seats to begin the lesson.

Katherine hadn't fallen far from his favour, however. Halfway through the lesson when Greengrass lowered the temperature of the room with a spell and shouted "Dementor!", the Potions Professor took fifty points from his own house. He went on to give her a severe dressing down in front of the class on the improperness of her actions in the sort of times the wizarding world were in.

For once, Katherine was happy to let a slight injustice go unchecked, happily taking notes from the board.

When Katherine finished her notes, she looked around again, finding that only a few others had finished too. And, feeling a slight pang in her bladder, she raised her hand.

Slughorn looked up from the parchment he was marking, smiling.

"Katherine, my dear girl." he acknowledged her, his expression expectant.

Katherine smiled at the kind man. She had admitted to herself that she enjoyed his praise, it was almost…fatherly.

"May I please go to the bathroom?" asked Katherine.

Slughorn nodded immediately before checking his fog watch.

"Of course, of course," said Slughorn, "But you might as well take your books with you, class is about to finish."

Katherine nodded as she stood, gathering her things, "Thank you, Professor."

An arm flew up into the air in Katherine's peripheral vision.

"Mister Potter."

"Can _I_ go to the bathroom, Sir?"

Slughorn laughed, "After the bell,"

James sighed.

"You can surely hold on for two minutes, can't you, lad?"

Katherine breezed out of the door, hearing James playfully argue the unfairness of her being allowed to go with only two minutes to go.

Slughorn's argument was simply that she had asked first – _and_ that he could trust her to not blow up the toilets.

After using the bathroom, washing her hands, and spelling her hair to untangle itself, Katherine moved off to Lunch. The bell had gone just as she arrived at the bathroom, and she found the hallways flooded with students heading for the Great Hall.

"Look, it's _ickle_ little, _Spencer!_ " Greengrass' voice announced to her small gaggle of Slytherin pals who had taken to blocking Katherine in from behind.

Katherine pursed her lips, clearing her throat as she looked around the hallway for an out.

"I really must be getting to Lunch, Greengrass." Katherine excused, trying to step away before stepping into Parkinson who blocked her path pointedly.

"So the chosen one _is_ touched in the head!" Greengrass declared, amused, "You can't have everything, I suppose."

Katherine sighed, holding her books tighter to her chest.

Snape was behind Greengrass, watching the exchange with interest.

"Was locking me in that cupboard with the Devil Snare not enough for you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Greengrass, blankly, before grinning, "You probably imagined it, since you're a certified loon."

"That's enough, Greengrass."

A flurry of kissing noises erupted, and Katherine didn't have to turn around to know who had come to the rescue.

"What a fitting couple!" laughed Greengrass, "The orphan and the half –"

Remus stepped in front of Katherine, "Come up with a new insult, Greengrass."

Her goons 'ooohed'.

"Why? When it's all so true?" said Greengrass, grinning.

Remus's lips hardened into a line, "Thirty points from Slytherin."

Greengrass' face dropped into a scowl, and she turned to parade away.

It was as she turned back that Katherine noticed that her cheeks seemed darker – hairier.

Greengrass also seemed to notice, lifting her hands for inspection before letting out an almighty screech.

"You – You!" she spluttered, whirling an arm in Remus' direction.

Remus simply raised his eyebrows, infuriatingly calm.

"Who?"

Greengrass stomped in place before running off with her fellow Slytherins in her wake.

Those who had stopped to laugh watched her go, pointing and talking to one another.

Remus licked his lips, leaning down to a young Ravenclaw, "Don't you think it's strange she's so furry this time of the month?"

The younger student's eyes lit up, and he turned to whisper to the boy next to him.

Katherine watched Greengrass flee, smiling, "You'll have to teach me that spell someday."

Remus smiled to himself, but nudged Katherine's elbow with his own, "We should get some lunch,"

They had only just gotten into the thick of the migrating crowd when he turned to her again.

"Oh, and you should know," he said, "Professor Giles is back."

* * *

As they neared the classroom, Lily opened her smiling lips to say something, but Katherine watched her train of thought die in her eyes as they fixed on something ahead.

Katherine followed Lily's eyes and found James Potter stopping by two Hufflepuff First Years.

"Oh – no," Lily sighed as she pulled out her holly wand, "This is going to end badly…"

"Transfiguration? Too easy!" James boomed, "Left at the end of the hallway, up the staircase, left again, and then it's the last classroom on the right side of the hallway."

They were the correct directions.

Lily made no move to walk forward. Her mouth was opening and closing as her eyes flickered between the retreating first years and James Potter lining up outside of the Defence Classroom with the other fifth years. Her eyebrows pinched together before she shook her head and strode forward to tack on to the end of the line.

Katherine took a front row seat on the left aisle of desks with her friends.

Hushed whispers filled the room as it got closer and closer to lesson time.

On the bell, a tall well-dressed figure emerged from the office at the top of the stairs.

The talking among the class stopped immediately.

"We're going to dive right in this lesson as your OWLS are in June."

Katherine saw exchanged glances of worry between other students out of the corner of her eye at Professor' Giles words. She felt a pang of nervousness in her gut as well. She had to take one of the hardest tests of her schooling career and she had only been practicing magic for just over a month.

"A lot is revision, so there needn't be too much worry," Professor Giles sat on the edge of his desk and crossed his legs as if to tell a story, "But we will be introducing a lot more advanced defensive spells for duelling situations,"

A few heads picked up and a few excited whispers were exchanged at his words before the room fell to silence once more.

"Shielding is Charm work, but it is used in duels, so we will practice it here today," said Giles, pushing up off of his desk and producing his wand, "' _Protego'_ is the incantation, and move your wand just so…" He instructed, demonstrating with his own wand.

He looked around, his eyes settling on James who sat directly across the aisle from Lily. With a smile, he tossed an apple in James' direction.

James, dexterous as he was as a Chaser, caught the apple easily, albeit confusedly.

"The shield doesn't just deflect spells, but material objects as well," Professor Giles told the class, nodding to James, "Mister Potter, please throw that apple at me."

James instantly grinned before he gave a pause of brief hesitation, but his grin prevailed again, him raising his arm to lob it.

It had been heading directly for Professor Giles' crotch, definitely not a mistake – James Potter had quite the arm.

Katherine had seen him and Sirius weaving through the crowded halls on foot with a quaffle for 'practice' as they had explained it to McGonagall. It never once hit another student, so McGonagall fixed them with a stern stare and told them to return it to the equipment shed by the Quidditch Pitch.

James had only returned with a newly acquired snitch, harder for McGonagall to catch him with.

The apple, aimed at the Professor's crotch, fell short a foot from the intended target. The air rippled, to reveal a semi-translucent shield covering Professor Giles from head to foot. Levitating the apple back to his desk, too bruised to eat, Professor Giles turned back to the class.

"I'm going to pair you up based on how you performed in the last school term," said Giles, reaching behind himself for a piece of parchment on his desk.

"Lupin and Evans."

James groaned from somewhere across the aisle.

"Black and Potter."

"Longbottom and Snape."

"Dolohov and Mulciber."

"Lestrange and Fortescue."

Katherine cast Alice a concerned sideways glance, but Alice just shrugged, offering her friends a reassuring smile. But Katherine saw the worried glint in her eyes at the prospect of duelling Rabastan.

"McKinnon and Vance."

"Parkinson and Avery."

"Goyle and Greengrass."

"Pettigrew and Crabbe."

Katherine looked around the classroom surreptitiously, finding that everyone in attendance had been listed off, except for her. There was an odd number of students in the room.

"And… lastly, Spencer," Professor Giles announced, looking up at Katherine and putting down the parchment, "We have an odd number and you have only just started at Hogwarts… so you will have to practice with me,"

Professor Giles lifted his wand.

"Everyone stand,"

The class complied, and as soon as they all stood the chairs and tables flew to the walls of the room to create space to practice.

"Find a space and begin."

Waving her up to the front of the room near his desk, Professor Giles offered Katherine a tight smile.

"You went away again." said Katherine, before he could even give her a dishonest breath.

"Was it naïve of me to hope no one would notice?" asked Giles, leaning back on his desk and crossing his ankles.

"Is it naïve of me to hope you'll tell me what you were doing?" asked Katherine.

"I'm sorry that I messed up your extra tutoring sessions," said Giles, bowing his head, "Tonight we'll meet as intended."

"That's not an –"

He pushed up from his desk, his strides languid as he walked around his desk to push his chair in.

"You should check your room at lunch," said Giles, effectively cutting her off with a smile thrown back over his shoulder, "I think that you'll find a welcome surprise in your trunk that will also explain where I've been."

Katherine just frowned.

Giles, though, pushed his chair in, and returned; taking ten paces back and lifting his wand.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

* * *

Katherine paused just inside the door. She hadn't ever entertained the idea of what classrooms would look like at night. So, looking around, Katherine tried to overcome the strangeness.

"I think it best that we start with methods of avoiding detection," Professor Giles began, walking past Katherine and stopping in front of her, "Tonight we will cover the Disillusionment Charm,"

Katherine nodded once, producing her wand and awaiting instruction.

"It's simple enough," Giles started again.

He tapped the top of his brown curls with his wand, a white light shooting out. And suddenly his curls were no more. He wasn't quite invisible; rather, his body seemed to have taken on the exact colour and texture of the desk behind him.

"Magic is all about intention," Giles' disembodied voice informed her, still directly in front of her, "Just focus on wanting to be invisible."

Katherine closed her eyes and tapped the top of her head with her wand.

The sensation of a raw egg being cracked on her head was what followed, dripping down her body and granting her – what she hoped – was invisibility. For a split second of stupidity, she wondered if Giles could see that she was invisible while he was invisible. But then, seeing him ripple in front of the desk, she knew that he could as she could see him- even only _just_.

"A complete disillusionment charm on the first go," Giles began with a tone of praise, suddenly popping into the visible spectrum once again, "Well done, Katherine."

"Thanks," Katherine breathed out, glad for invisibility with such a warm face, "But, er, how do I stop it?"

Giles' eyes wandered around, just below where Katherine's eyes were. It made Katherine glad. It meant that she had done a very good charm.

" _Finite_ ought to do," Giles answered, still searching for Katherine's face.

Katherine whispered the general counter-spell, only knowing that it worked when Giles finally found her eyes. Another smile, the surprising kind, was her reward.

"Are there other ways to be invisible?" asked Katherine, examining her hands that hadn't been completely transparent.

Giles nodded, brushing his hair off his forehead gingerly, "There are cloaks – modelled after the one in the tale of the three brothers – of course."

"The three brothers?"

Giles frowned, looking down at the flagstone floor, "Right, I forgot that you wouldn't know about them," he pushed off of his desk and strode across the room to a bookshelf, trailing a hand along the titles as he spoke, "It's from a collection of children's stories…though _some_ believe they were truths only allowed to be published under the guise of being fictions for children's amusement… here we go…"

Giles strode back, a small blue book in hand that he extended to Katherine.

"Tales of the Beetle and the Bard..." said Katherine, running her fingertips over the gold lettering.

"You keep it – read it," said Giles with a soft smile and soft fall of air from his nose, "You might find it…illuminating for certain aspects of our world, and, if not, at least you'll know what your classmates are always on about."

Katherine nodded, rubbing her thumb over the soft blue cover while her mind turned back to her fellow classmates that had been less than relatable since the article about her began circulating. She wasn't sure what she preferred; being attacked by Devil Snare, or having people shouting after her in the hallways every minute of the day.

"There's something on your mind."

Katherine's eyes shot up to find Giles' own fixed on her, his head tilted gently.

"What makes you think that?"

"Your eyes crinkle the same way your –" Giles broke off, looking a mixture of alarmed and hesitant before clearing his throat and crossing his arms with another rare smile, "I can just read you, is all."

All questions about what he had been up to flew out of her mind, and she just wanted to tell him everything that had happened without him there at the castle. She wanted him to nod at the right times, hum concernedly, and then proceed to tell her everything she needed know.

Katherine took a breath, "Saturday evening… I was leaving the library –"

"Alone?" asked Giles, inclining his head and letting his eyes bore into her omnisciently.

A hybrid feeling of embarrassment and reticence trickled through her.

"Well…yes." said Katherine, knitting her fingers together and squeezing.

Giles gave a pursed smile, his eyes kind in their condemnation, " _Katherine…_ "

"I was locked in a broom cupboard with Devil Snare." said Katherine, halting any lecture he might have embarked on.

She thought that he didn't look surprised.

" _Really?_ " asked Giles slowly, sounding far too amused to Katherine.

"I think it was Greengrass –"

"Have you told Professor McGonagall?" asked Giles, blinking.

"Goodness, no," Katherine couldn't stop the expression that twisted her features in her horror at disclosing the encounter to her Head of House, "I had to _Reducto_ the door and barely got away from Filch as it was…"

Giles nodded, running his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip before tilting his head again, "What makes you think that it was Miss Greengrass?"

An insurmountable rush of rage surged through Katherine's loins, and she felt her eyelids recede.

"She is, without a doubt, the lowest, most awful creature to ever walk the planet," said Katherine, barely restraining her shrillness, " _And_ she's a _Slytherin_."

"What about Regulus Black?"

Katherine could only blink for a few seconds, having to forge a new pathway in her brain to try and figure out how Giles _knew_.

"How do you –"

"I have my ways," said Giles lightly, lifting his chin slightly.

Katherine continued to frown at him, trying to glean the truth from his minute expressions. That itself seemed to do something, and Giles was opening his mouth again without an argument from Katherine, lifting a hand and blinking resignedly.

"Alright, sometimes the idle gossip of teenagers pikes my interest."

Katherine swallowed, shaking her head, "He's actually been nice to me – _cryptic_ , sure, but nice."

"You know how Slytherins are; unable to be upfront about anything," said Giles, his eyes glinting with something akin to amusement, "It's the self-preservation thing."

His tone was laced with light condemnation, and Katherine knew why.

"Okay, so maybe I've been suckered into the house rivalries a bit," said Katherine, conceding, "But they _do_ turn out more dark wizards than any other house – it just all adds up to look really bad for Greengrass."

"Well, you know what you have to do then," said Giles, regarding her, "Prove it was her."

"Yes, but how?" asked Katherine, feeling her desperation laden in her cheeks.

"I think we've achieved enough for one night," Giles insisted, standing to his full height, "I should probably walk you back to Gryffindor Tower."

Katherine nodded numbly and followed him to the door and into the hallway. He locked the door with an unrecognisable spell before they began their walk in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

"Thank you for getting my things, by the way – spend much time in London while you stopped by Claremont?"

"Nice try, Spencer."

"No, no, that was a bad one – what about –"

She continued to guess, and he continued to evade answering, both partaking in a strange verbal dance while they navigated the hallways and then the stairs.

They only slowed their journey when they reached the stairs leading to the landing that housed the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Well, you made it back, not a Slytherin in sight," Giles declared, clasping his hands together.

Giles took to rubbing his cheek, eyeing the portrait like it was a very foreign object. It made Katherine wonder what house he had been sorted into. Obviously not Gryffindor if he regarded the portrait in such a strange manner.

"Don't forget to check your schedule for our meetings." Giles reminded Katherine.

"Of course," Katherine answered, "Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Katherine."

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"I didn't like being stuck," said Katherine, frowning in memory of being trapped with the Devil Snare, "In the library, I've been doing some reading on Dementors after _that_ night…"

The look on his face told Katherine that Giles remembered everything about that night.

"The Patronus Charm can be adapted as a means for communication, would you teach me?"

"It is very advanced magic, Katherine," warned Giles, his eyes on the bottom of the Fat Lady's frame – not meeting hers, "We'll start tomorrow?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 11: Tunnel of Doom (Preview) ~*_

" _Oh, goodness, we're going to die in here…" said Katherine, her hands finding holds in the rock wall to pull herself up and out of the water lapping at her chest._

" _Be positive." said James, valiantly still searching for another way out, his broad shoulders to her._

" _We're going to die quickly."_

 _The look he threw over his shoulder almost made Katherine laugh, feeling the most at ease with him that she ever had before._

 _Slowly, the water rose. And slowly, Katherine ran out of tears, accepting her fate and just wishing that it would hurry up._

 _Even James turned back, leaning against the wall beside Katherine, "Well…if we're going to die in here…"_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Tunnel of Doom

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **Author's Note:**

 **{Edited on 16/12 /2019}**

* * *

Slughorn's dinner had been postponed numerous times over the beginning of the term. He had invited both the Head Boy and Head Girl, and numerous prefects (almost all of which had Quidditch practices to attend) without accounting for clashing schedules. And, wanting all who had been invited able to attend, the dinner had to wait until the Thursday before the first match of the season.

It had been far from Katherine's mind, her spending her three scheduled evenings per week with Giles; learning the Patronus Charm, and using her normal lessons and homework as a way to spend her time between meetings.

She had only accomplished silvery wisps in the way of her Patronus, but would be content even with just a shield. An animal – a corporeal Patronus – was a higher level of magic some accomplished witches and wizards couldn't manage, let alone a fifteen year old student. But she would be lying if she didn't deeply desire to replicate the vividness of the stallion that Giles had shown her in their first lesson.

"When did you learn how to conjure a Patronus?" asked Katherine, sighing and rolling her shoulders at another failed attempt before preparing for another one.

Giles, perched on the edge of his desk, watched the tendrils of white light float up through the air.

"I was seventeen." said Giles, blinking at nothing.

A ring, close to the beginnings of a shield, made Katherine's insides skyrocket into her throat.

"Did they teach it in school?" asked Katherine, narrowing her eyes at the desk in front of her in concentration.

Giles lifted his hands from the desk behind him and rubbed them on his slack-covered knees.

"Sort of…" said Giles, his eyes moving to his feet that he rearranged on the floor beneath himself, "We learnt about the theory…but the practical application…some of us sought it out as a personal extension of our abilities."

"Who taught you?" asked Katherine, stiffening her lips in effort for her next casting.

The silence that followed her words urged her to take a sideways glance at Giles, the man piercing her with his eyes; onyx in the firelight. His lips were pursed in a manner that made Katherine suspect he was holding water in there, and he was desperate to not let a drop out.

But then his eyes creased and his mouth opened.

"Your mother."

A surge of white light streamed from Katherine's wand tip, forming a weak shield.

Giles lifted his eyebrows at the display, standing, stuffing his hands in his pockets, and smiling gently.

Katherine, meanwhile, was staring at him.

"You knew her?"

Giles nodded, one hand leaving his pocket to rub his jaw, "Our families ran in the same circles while we were growing up."

"How did she learn it?" asked Katherine, only semi-conscious of fingering her wand in her excitement.

The pursed-water-holding-expression took a hold of Giles' lips again, but they were twitching in the corners.

"Her favourite Professor taught her."

Tucking her hair behind her ears, she lifted her wand to the vacant space next to Giles; returning to her attempts.

"I'm never going to get it, am I?" asked Katherine, sighing.

She suddenly regretted her request of him outside the Gryffindor common room, realising that she mustn't have shared as much of her parents' talent as people assumed.

Giles moved his arm as if to grab Katherine's shoulder, but then thought better of it, and dropped his arm. He regarded her with a mixed expression, Katherine only able to catch brief notes of rumination which only left her wondering what he was thinking so deeply of.

"Come on, where's that Gryffindor nerve?"

Katherine continued to attempt, and Giles continued to pace for the remaining hour they had, but she still didn't get any further than the weak shield she'd conjured at the shock of hearing her Professor mention her mother.

* * *

Touching down in the common room, the girls came to an impasse with James and Frank. Or, more specifically, Lily and Alice did. Katherine was just holding Lily's hand and standing like a left over. The other fifth year boys were by the fire, warming themselves.

The two boys were wearing jackets and pressed trousers. And _both_ of them had their hair combed. But, despite what seemed like his best efforts, a bit of James' hair stuck up at the back. His hand jumped to it at the sight of Lily.

"Alice," said Frank, his smile almost as bright as her dress, "Can I escort you to dinner?"

Alice's short blonde hair yet again failed to cover her blush. But, as she was wearing makeup, the only blush Katherine could see was the slight tinge that crept up Alice's neck.

"Don't even try it, James." said Sirius from where he stood; stoking the dwindling fire.

James raised two fingers in a rude gesture to Sirius before turning and following Alice and Frank out. Sirius was unperturbed, leaning on the mantle and flicking his hair back off of his face after being bent over stoking the fire.

Lily squeezed Katherine's hand and pulled her in the direction of the portrait hole, calling over her shoulder, "I'll see you for patrols, Remus!"

Once they were outside the portrait, Katherine and Lily trailed behind laughing Alice and Frank to Slughorn's quarters.

It was there that they happened across Narcissa sitting in the middle of a group of blazers like a white rose; laughing at the right times, her teeth gleaming appealingly, but her eyes were despondent.

Beside Narcissa was the familiar golden hair, with the impeccable part and accompanying honey eyes, which ripped Katherine's attempt at a composed façade to tatters. The expected lack of breath and thought followed her sighting of Gideon Prewett, and Katherine desperately sought a distraction.

Lucius Malfoy had forfeited the spot next to his fiancée in favour of sitting by the window with a goblet, his face twisted as if he had just walked into the greenhouse after the plants had been fertilized. A silver ring on his pinky finger drew Katherine's attention, there was something engraved on it but she couldn't see from her distance…

The boy beside him startled Katherine from her observation.

Regulus Black stood tall and straight in front of the window that the rain gently beaded against, haughty – but handsome. He wasn't extraordinarily tall or built, being only fourteen, but he didn't look out of place. His searing eyes lifted to her, as if sensing her gaze.

Katherine offered him a small smile, the waters well between them despite James' interruption in the library the last time they spoke. But she knew their conversations were to be kept private, if his reaction to James' appearance last time was anything to go off.

He blinked once, lifting his eyebrows. His eyes slipped around the room before he offered her a smile quicker than apparition, his face falling back to its default haughty expression immediately after. He pointedly kept his eyes away from Katherine after that, seeming to be keeping one of them on Lucius.

Katherine was one of only a few girls in attendance. Katherine realised that fact as Slughorn got everyone seated. There was Alice, Frank, Gideon, Lily, and James from Gryffindor. Lucius, Narcissa, and Regulus from Slytherin. And a seventh year Ravenclaw boy.

"Damocles, m'boy!" Slughorn addressed the Ravenclaw boy gleefully, "On my left, son."

Slughorn's stomach turned to Katherine, something alcoholic swishing in his goblet.

"Katherine, dear girl," said Slughorn with rosy cheeks and a more subdued smile, "On my right."

Katherine sat where she was directed, the round table ensuring that everyone could see each other easily. Alice and Frank were next to each other, directly across from Katherine and Slughorn. James on Frank's other side and Lily on Alice's. Regulus was next to James, beside Katherine. Lucius was beside Damocles, making him harder for Katherine to see. Something she was glad for.

Slughorn snapped his fingers once everyone was seated, Binky appearing with a crisp _POP_.

"Binky!" Katherine greeted before she could stop herself.

After Gideon had showed her to the kitchens, Katherine had promptly shown Lily, the two taking trips before dinner for sustenance while they did their homework. With how often they went, they were on good terms with nearly all of the elves despite Katherine and Lily being shocked at first at what they had thought was slavery. Once explained to them, they understood, but still made sure to convey their gratefulness to the elves.

"Miss Spencer!" Binky greeted, enthusiastic before turning to Slughorn, "Is you ready for the first course?"

Slughorn nodded with a pleased smile.

"Yes, Binky," He answered, holding up a hand and laughing boisterously, "No need to rush between courses."

"Yes, Mister Slughorn." Binky replied, waving animatedly at Katherine before disappearing with another _POP_.

"Famous among House Elves as well," said Slughorn, turning an expression of surprised delight on Katherine, "I must admit that I am surprised at your lack of prejudice towards the creatures considering your heritage."

Katherine thought it best to not mention that she was raised a muggle at that moment.

"I don't know why anyone would ever forget to be polite to someone." she settled on, watching Regulus' nose turn towards her in her periphery.

"Binky isn't _someone_ – she's a house elf." drawled Lucius Malfoy.

"How is your own House Elf these days, Malfoy?" said James, Frank shaking his head at his friend and resting a hand on his arm, "Make him iron his hands lately for incorrectly washing your y-fronts?"

Surprising everyone, Narcissa was the first to laugh, raising a dainty hand to her plum-painted lips.

"I was always taught that if you want to know the worth of a man, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

Lucius' face was infuriatingly blank, but his eyes held the promise of retribution in Regulus' near future.

Katherine turned to her right, startled both by Regulus' shoe trapping her own beneath the table and his words.

"Very true," Slughorn commended him with a grin, lifting his utensils as bowls of soup cropped up around the table like they did at meals in the Great Hall, "Well, dig in, everybody!"

All the while, Katherine snuck glances at Regulus' gold cufflinks until she was brave enough to meet his eyes; not un-similar to the indigo milk cap mushrooms on his plate.

"I wouldn't have expected that from you." whispered Katherine, her eyes watching the other occupants of the table.

But she still caught his smile, unfortunately at the same time James Potter glanced at the boy that looked so like his friend but acted so very different.

Unperturbed, Regulus leant closer to Katherine – closer than necessary or appropriate, James' brows furrowing at the pair.

Katherine's eyes jumped to Gideon though, not wanting him to get the wrong idea, only to find him laughing with Alice and Lily.

"Then you don't know me very well," he repeated his words from the library.

Regulus' eyes flickered to Slughorn on Katherine's left, his shoulders stiffening, and his eyes flickering back to Katherine with an imperious glint.

"Laugh."

"What?"

"Come on, Slughorn will probably kick me out like he did Greengrass if he thinks I'm threatening you." said Regulus, a hint of urgency pulling at Katherine's compassion.

So she laughed, throwing her head back in the delicate way she had copied from Narcissa.

Regulus chuckled politely.

Slughorn lost interest.

Conversation about everyone's individual pursuits, both in school and the ones planned for the future, were sparked by Slughorn.

"And, James," Slughorn zeroed in on the boy with jet black hair, "Has your father, Fleamont, considered making any more potions?"

James swallowed his sip of soup and smiled.

"He's making enough gold off of sleek-ezy and skelo-gro," James answered, sounding anything but humble at the mention of potions that were staples in the wizarding community, "And he's heading into his golden years; so I'm afraid I'll have to take over the vaults quite soon."

Slughorn smiled conspiratorially, resting his hand on his quaking belly; his rings on display.

"You could sit happily on that gold without working a day in your life," said Slughorn jovially, "But you still wish to be an Auror?"

James nodded, suddenly solemn. His soup was forgotten at the mention of his future career.

"Gold doesn't mean very much when there's a war on," said James, his eyes sliding to Lucius and Regulus before back to Slughorn, he suddenly smiled dryly, "And despite his potion brewing career, you must remember how much my dad hates the Dark Arts."

Slughorn nodded quickly.

"Oh, yes, _of course_ ," Slughorn readily replied, blinking and raising his eyebrows, "It's very good of you to take such a stance against it too,"

The soup suddenly vanished from the table, bread and water refilling.

"And the lovely Lily," Slughorn redirected his attention to the red head – James wasn't complaining – "How are your parents in the muggle world? Is your Father still a…" Slughorn trailed off, frowning at a loss for Lily's Father's occupation.

Lily smiled, toying with the cuffs of her dress.

"A Policeman?" Lily supplied, nodding, "Yes, there's quite a bit of bedlam in the muggle world too so he is kept busy a lot of the time."

Slughorn nodded, pleased, but desperate for a lighter topic. His eyes wandered the table, already having spoken to Alice and Frank, before they fell on Regulus where he sat beside Katherine.

"Regulus Black; the youngest Seeker I've ever seen, any offers from England yet?" Slughorn asked, riled up by his own hype-talk.

Regulus' hand twitch where it rested on the table cloth beside Katherine's.

"Not from England, no," Regulus answered quietly, inclining his head, "I dare say I'm still too young for consideration."

Lucius and Regulus exchanged an array of firm looks in a matter of seconds, Katherine catching all of them but unable to decipher any of them.

"Nonsense!" Slughorn swatted the air, accidentally knocking over his water that he hadn't touched that evening, "You're fifteen in December, what else would you do?"

"I do work with my Father, preparing to take over the Black family's seat in the Wizengamot one day." Regulus replied automatically– uncaringly.

"Should that not be a job for your older brother?" Slughorn inquired, his interest increasingly ten-fold, " _I did invite him this evening… as always…_ " the man mumbled to himself, raising his eyebrows.

Regulus' back straightened and his lips became thin.

Katherine shuffled awkwardly beside Regulus, feeling that it could be a very dangerous place to be.

"My brother has other aspirations." Regulus deadpanned, his chin lifting ever so slightly.

Slughorn blinked, unable to take stock of the moment in his semi-inebriated state, and smiled before turning his attention to the boy beside him.

"For those of you who don't know," said Slughorn, "Damocles is pioneering new werewolf research."

Damocles Belby was a gangly young man with glasses suited to someone three times his age. His hair had a certain kind of tidied messiness that came with appearance upkeep taking a backseat to reading one more chapter. His robes were expensive and fitted, as he came from a good family, but no amount of galleons could buy him a body to properly fill them.

Katherine often saw him in the library, hunched over books. She could finally put a name to his face.

"Terrible affliction, lycanthropy." Damocles conceded, bowing his head.

"Werewolves are people too." said Katherine, eyeing him over the glass she sipped from.

"Oh, yes, yes," said Damocles with wide eyes, "I meant no prejudice – my cousin's a werewolf; hence why I'm working on a cure."

"Is that with Aconite?" asked Katherine quickly.

Slughorn had leant back to allow his students to converse in front of him, smiling at the scene.

"W-well, yes! How'd you know?" Damocles spluttered out excitedly.

"Call it intuition," answered Katherine with a small smile, "That, and I can smell it on the benches after the seventh year class lets out."

"You should have been a Ravenclaw." said Damocles slowly, an appraising smile accompanying his eyes that wandered over Katherine.

"Too many brave deeds to her name to be a philosopher." declared Slughorn, sloshing his goblet again.

Damocles ignored their Professor, blinking at Katherine, "Do you know much about werewolves?"

"A fair amount." Katherine shrugged.

"I'm very close to finishing," Damocles nodded, pride seeping into his quiet voice, "I think that I will finish it before the end of term."

"It will be a shame to see you graduate, Belby." lamented Slughorn, frowning into his goblet of mead.

"You still have my younger brother." Damocles tried to bolster the suddenly down-trodden man.

His words didn't lift Slughorn's spirits. But the main course that arrived not seconds later, did.

The rest of the night flew by after that. Dessert was short, Lily needing to leave for Prefect patrols and everyone else needing to get back to their dormitories before curfew.

Frank had taken Alice for a walk, promising the rare sight of the Giant Squid breaching in the moonlight. Gideon and Damocles had stayed behind for a night cap with Slughorn, being of age.

So Katherine was left to walk back to Gryffindor Tower herself, everyone else having other common rooms to return to.

Or so she thought.

"Spencer!"

Halting and turning, Katherine realised that she yet to account for the last Gryffindor who wasn't old enough for some firewhisky.

His jet black hair flopped in the firelight of the wall torches as he jogged to a stop beside Katherine, "It's late, we should walk back together."

"Safety in numbers?" asked Katherine, finding his crooked nose to comfort herself.

"Something like that." said James, smoothing his hand through his hair as they started walking once again.

"There's death in numbers too," said Katherine, feeling bold as she let a small smile slip, "It's called a massacre."

"Shall I fetch Sirius?" asked James sarcastically, smiling back at her, "Make it a real blood bath?"

The hallways had been empty all the way to the third floor, the pair not even happening across any Prefects or Professors. Katherine was going to use the shortcut behind the tapestry on the Charms Corridor that would come out in the Trophy Room. She didn't know when Greengrass would strike again and thought it best to stick to the secret passageways and out of broom cupboards.

"If we're being safe, I know a quicker and quiet way back to the Tower." said Katherine, as they slowed by the passage Giles had shown her on the first day.

"A secret passage?" asked James, slowly grinning, "Who showed you this?"

Katherine found his grin infectious.

"I can't tell you _all_ my secrets."

"I'll just have to wait for the next article in the prophet to unravel you for me, then."

She thought that she saw a glint of black as she pulled the tapestry away from the wall. Katherine paused, looking down the piece of hallway to her right and left, before she slipped into the passage with a whispered ' _Dissendium_ ', James following with a glance behind himself. _For a different reason to her_ , Katherine was sure.

But, Katherine mused, even if someone _had_ been in the hallway, it couldn't have been Greengrass. She had brown hair.

So, feeling marginally comforted, Katherine set off up the gradual incline of tunnelled stone with her wand lighting the way and her thoughts on James' words.

"You didn't… _believe_ that article, did you?" asked Katherine, their shoes echoing around them.

" _Lumos!_ " said James, lighting his own wand, before casting a kind sideways smile at Katherine, "Which bit?"

The toe of her boot caught on the uneven stone of the tunnel, her steadying herself before answering.

"I'm not a super solider, a werewolf, or in a relationship with Remus Lupin."

"So you _did_ hex Greengrass in the hallways?" asked James, not an ounce of condemnation in his voice or his face.

Katherine didn't think he truly required a response as he grinned down at her, glancing away to watch his step.

It had only taken minutes to come out on the other side. But, before she stepped out into the trophy room, she felt her boots _SQUELCH._ Looking down and then back down the tunnel, Katherine saw water rising up the incline of stone.

Remembering her wand that was shedding light upon this fact, Katherine turned to the opening and threw herself out.

James simply stepped out, muttering a _'nox'_ and stowing his wand in his robes as he eyed Katherine concernedly.

"Everything okay, Spencer?"

Looking around, Katherine realised that it was possible that a pipe may have burst, and took the hand that James offered her to regain her footing.

Before she could sigh in relief, her wand left her hand.

With impressive speed, James whipped out his own, looking around, and no sooner was disarmed too.

Looking around for the person who had disarmed them both, Katherine felt dread weigh down her skin. The situation was very reminiscent of the Devil Snare incident.

And, just like she had been back then, Katherine was forced back into the passage. This time, without her wand. And this time, with James.

"Not again…" groaned Katherine, raising her hands to thump into the stone in hopes of someone – anyone – _Filch_ , even, to hear and come to their aid.

"Again?" asked James, tracing his finger around the seal of the door to find any release points.

"Do you remember when I left the library after helping you with your detention?" asked Katherine.

James nodded, crouching down into the rapidly rising water to try from the bottom of the door.

"I got locked in a cupboard of Devil Snare outside the library,"

James rose up, his wet hand encasing her shoulder, bringing to attention the water level at his hips and her waist.

"Did you tell someone?"

Katherine's eyes raised, "Just Lily. I didn't want to drag in any more people."

"It's a bit late for that now, don't you think?"

James resumed searching and Katherine resumed beating on the stone wall until her hands began to bleed and she fell back against the wall and began to cry. She didn't want to drown. But she was without a wand.

"Oh, goodness, we're going to die in here…" said Katherine, her hands finding holds in the rock wall to pull herself up and out of the water lapping at her chest.

"Be positive." said James, valiantly still searching for another way out, his broad shoulders to her.

"We're going to die quickly."

The look he threw over his shoulder almost made Katherine laugh, feeling the most at ease with him that she ever had before.

Slowly, the water rose. And slowly, Katherine ran out of tears, accepting her fate and just wishing that it would hurry up.

Even James turned back, leaning against the wall beside Katherine, "Well…if we're going to die in here…"

Hearing him say the words made Katherine realise that she still entertained delusions of being saved, not daring to think that they would come true. Hogwarts, though, seemed to have other ideas. And as Gideon went to speak again, so did another voice – from the other side of the door.

"Are you mumbling the spell?" a hushed voice whispered.

Katherine shot off the wall, water splashing around her armpits as she and James made for the door.

"No," another voice replied, the stone wall crumbling in an effort to open it from the outside, "It's–just– _not_ –budging."

Katherine let out a cry of relief, pressing her ear to the door, barely noting that James had done the same.

"Here, let me have a go." the first voice insisted.

There was a pause and the sound of scuttling shoes, murmured curse words meeting Katherine's ears through the stone.

"What are you doing here?" Katherine immediately recognised as Lily's voice, "Five words or less."

Katherine almost cried again. Lily was there. She would get Katherine out for sure. And Remus was most likely with her. She couldn't imagine a more capable pair to free her.

"Out. For. A. Walk…" who Katherine could now decipher as being Sirius answered, " _Evans_."

Katherine didn't care much for hearing more of the group's conversation, she had to get their attention before they left. So she beat on the wall again, ignoring her cut up hands. As she heard attempts being made to open the passage, the water began to rise more quickly.

"There's water leaking out," Remus commented, "Do you think someone's stuck in there?"

James and Katherine exchanged glances at Remus Lupin's astuteness.

"We should get a Professor." Katherine heard Lily say.

"No."

"What do you _mean_ 'no'?" Lily sniped.

Katherine was startled by how vividly she could imagine Sirius rolling his eyes. Even with the water being up to her neck.

"I mean _no_ ," said Sirius, "Do you want to hear it in French?"

"That's Katherine's wand…" said Lily, it surprising Katherine that the person who had locked her in there hadn't taken it with them, "She's stuck in there without her wand!"

Katherine was gulping air against the top of the passage when they finally managed to open it, James' larger head disadvantaging him and sending him under a flat second before her. They flowed out with the water, carried by it, scraping their knees on the stone floor when it drained away and dumped them.

Katherine looked around from where she lay in a heap on the floor. Lily and Remus were by the ' _Services to the School_ ' plaques, Lily advancing forward to help Katherine up. Sirius and Peter were standing at the opening of the passageway. They were looking from it, to Katherine, to James, and back again.

"We should definitely get a Professor." Lily maintained, holding her elbows and glancing around in paranoia.

"No." gulped Katherine as Lily helped her stand.

" _Not again,_ " said Lily before launching into a tangent, "Katherine, you're delirious from lack of oxygen –"

"I think that I'm going to have to side with Lily and highly suggest that you tell someone." Remus chimed in, frowning.

"Do you know who did it?" asked Lily as she squeezing out Katherine's hair.

Katherine watched the water from her hair make a puddle on the ground.

"Well… _no_ , but I'm pretty sure it was Greengrass." answered Katherine, squeezing some water out of her dress.

"It's Giles! Scatter!" Peter declared suddenly, ducking into the previously flooded passageway.

Sirius also disappeared into the passageway, Remus pulling Lily in too who was digging her heels in. James followed Lily, pausing at the open door and waving Katherine hurriedly in.

"Come on, quick!" whispered James, his hair slicked back by the water and neater than Katherine had ever seen it.

"Go," said Katherine with a weak smile, "I won't get in trouble."

James hesitated, his eyes flashing to the shadow stretching around the corner, back to Katherine, and then he seemed to tear himself from the very fabric of space to careen back down the drained tunnel behind the rest of the fifth year Gryffindors.

Katherine, not fleeing, instead searched for her wand that Lily had sighted. She eventually found it underneath one of the cabinets, having to get down on her knees to reach for it.

The clearing of a throat, despite Katherine expecting Giles' appearance, made her jump. Her head found the edge of the underside of the cabinet, Katherine yelping before retrieving her wand and slithering out from underneath the piece of furniture.

Giles looked from the flooded floor – to Katherine's drowned robes–to the open passage and then finally back to Katherine.

"Don't tell McGonagall." pleaded Katherine as she pushed herself up.

Giles sighed before he pulled out his own wand. He gave it a complicated little wave so that hot air streamed out of the tip; he then pointed it at her robes, which began to steam as they dried out. Next he conjured a blanket from thin air and draped it around Katherine's shoulders.

Katherine had worn a red, long-sleeved mod dress and black Go-Go boots; her favourite outfit. And she had never regretted it more. Her knees were the only thing exposed, and even then, she was wearing black stockings. But she was still cold. Even with the blanket around her.

"Let me guess," said Giles with a tired smile, "Slytherins?"

Katherine fell into step with him.

"I can't even go to a nice dinner without an attempt being made on my life..." she muttered to herself, sighing and letting her head fall back.

She felt his eyes on her as she observed the rafters overhead while they walked.

"You should have taken a jumper."

* * *

The month started to streak by. Classes and homework took up a lot of the Fifth Year's spare time, the OWL's ebbing at the edges of everyone's mind. And as the work load became miserable, so did the weather.

But on one Saturday afternoon, there was a rare spot of sun. Marlene coerced Katherine and Lily into going for a fly around the grounds. After giving Katherine a crash course on a broom and a few questionable close calls, it was entirely pleasant. Until James Potter and Sirius Black decided to join in.

The boys simply flew around, passing the Quaffle they had borrowed from the equipment shed, James showing off for Lily.

Meanwhile, the girls were doing loops around the spectator towers, playing tag to help Marlene keep her skills sharp. The groups merged when the Quaffle knocked into Marlene's smiling face as she streaked away from Lily.

"James!" cried Marlene, more annoyed than hurt as she clutched at her face.

Sirius gritted his teeth in a bracing wide-eyed smile before ducking away on his broom to retrieve the fallen Quaffle and to avoid taking any blame. James on the other hand, wrinkled his nose and flew over to Marlene.

"All right, McKinnon?" called James over the breeze as he neared the girls, "It's all Sirius' fault, really…"

"Bloody hell," said Marlene, pulling her hand away from where her cheekbone was already bruising, "How am I supposed to pull on Hogsmeade weekend with this shiner?"

James laughed in over-compensation, clapping Marlene on the back.

Marlene turned to give him a dark look, Katherine and Lily turning too. Sirius was just a dot in the distance behind him, making his way back. But there was another presence with the group of teenagers.

A look of horror passed across James Potter's face before it became blurred with the Dementor's attack. A strangled cry erupted from the fifteen year old boy. It was a horrible sound from the usually laughing boy. A sound that Katherine didn't think he was capable of making and never wanted to hear from his lips ever again.

Katherine didn't hesitate another moment, swooping down on her broom and raising her wand and trying to think of a powerful memory. But it was a lot harder when she was watching her house mate attacked, the horror prevailing over all else.

" _Expecto Patronum!_ " cried Katherine desperately.

She felt her wand pulse in her hand before it erupted in a fantastic show of light. The Dementor was ripped from James, hurtling away from the protective charm with a handful of the other Dementors.

Without thinking, Katherine flew to James' side, unsure if he was able to stay upright on his broom. His forearm that Katherine gripped was cold and clammy, his shoulders hunched and heaving in exhaustion.

Katherine gulped, pulling him upright and trying to check his eyes to see if he was going to pass out. But when she finally got his head to stop lolling forward, his eyes fixed on a spot behind her head, widening.

Katherine felt the unmistakeable cold creeping over her skin, turning to find a fleshy, sucking hole closing over her face. James' forearm slipped from her grasp, her barely able to hold onto her own broom. A voice screamed her name, seeming another world away.

" _Florence, it's him!" William shouted, panicked, passing off their daughter, "Take Katherine and go! Run- I'll hold him off!" He instructed her, his glasses askew._

 _The front door burst off of its hinges before Florence could escape up the stairs with Katherine. Florence turned with Katherine in her arms, paralysed._

 _William stood tall, his wand just out of reach on the dining table. His wild, mousy blond hair looked to be on fire from the glow the hearth was emitting. His fingers twitched, his broom by the fireplace._

 _Voldemort swept inside. His skin was a waxy porcelain and his eyes glinted red if you looked at them on an angle._

 _William's pained face turned over his shoulder, green light glinting off of his glasses._

 _And then he fell._

" _Step aside." ordered Voldemort._

" _Not Katherine! Please- show mercy! The prophecy doesn't say that she'll kill you! Please!"_

" _Avada Kedavra!"_

 _Katherine's birthday balloons dangled around the room as if in light wind._

When Katherine opened her eyes again, it was with tears on her face, "Mum!"

A few heads rose around the hospital wing but Katherine couldn't bring herself to look at their faces.

"Katherine?" Lily whispered unsurely.

Katherine closed her eyes and gulped.

"My head feels big,"

Katherine's hand found her head, searching for lumps or blood.

"Is it big?" asked Katherine, opening her eyes.

Lily smiled, shaking her head, "No, it's head-size."

Katherine cracked a smile and nodded.

"What happened?" asked Katherine, confused.

Her smile faded as she thought back on the afternoon.

"I remember the Dementors… and then checking on Potter…" said Katherine, shaking her head as she tried to remember getting to the hospital wing.

"After that near death experience," a familiar voice sounded from the bed across from Katherine's.

Her eyes fell on James Potter in the bed across from her, Sirius balancing his chair back on two legs at his bedside.

"I think that you can call me James." said James, managing a smile.

It wasn't a usual James Potter smile. It was exhausted and pained.

Katherine smiled back, sure that her smile wasn't very convincing either.

"You fell off your broom a minute or so into the attack," said Lily in answer to her original question.

Lily frowned and shook her head.

"I had gone to get a Professor by that point so I'm not sure about the details…" Lily trailed off helplessly.

Katherine turned back to Lily, frowning.

"How did I get here?" She questioned, looking down at the sheet pulled up to her waist.

Lily sat back in her chair.

"You were carried," She answered coolly, shrugging and looking to the window where rain had started falling, " _It's the least he could do after giving Marlene a bruise bigger than her face…_ "

Her heart leapt into her throat at Lily's words.

"Is everyone okay?" She asked, then looking to James, "James are you –"

"They're fine," said Lily with a smile, "Your Patronus kept everyone else safe."

Katherine didn't miss the glint in her eyes. But the sound of the doors opening drew Katherine's attention.

"I didn't know that you could cast a Patronus." said Lily, an undertone of expectancy for an explanation in her tone.

Katherine shrugged, picking at a thread from the stitching on the sheet.

"Giles taught me." She answered nonchalantly.

It was then that the curtain was pulled from around the side of Katherine's bed, McGonagall and Dumbledore standing there, their robes swaying from their halt. McGonagall advanced to Katherine's bedside.

"Evans said that you were attacked for a few minutes before you fell," McGonagall repeated absentmindedly, checking Katherine over, " _Horrific creatures…_ "

Katherine gulped, looking from the boys at James' bedside to Lily and then back to McGonagall and Dumbledore.

"I saw Mum and Dad," Katherine gulped out, "I saw… I saw them the night that they… that _I_..."

Dumbledore nodded at Katherine's words.

"Dementors make us relive our very worst memories," He acknowledged.

He cast a brief look at James.

"You have a considerable amount of horrors in your past compared to your classmates… so it is only natural that the attack has taken such a toll." He assured her.

Katherine closed her eyes.

" _He_ sent them," she said, opening her eyes, "Didn't he?"

Dumbledore bowed his head, nodding and joining his hands together in front of himself. McGonagall left the bedside, ushering out Lily and Sirius, and trying to make James leave too before Madam Pomfrey insisted that he stayed to recover.

"Azkaban has been abandoned by a considerable amount of Dementors," conceded Dumbledore, "The Ministry is already launching an inquiry."

Katherine nodded, toying with the sheet's hem where it rested on her stomach while she took in the distinct lack of a chestnut-mop of curls around her bed.

"Where's Giles?" asked Katherine, feeling a pang of doubt at her importance to her favourite Professor in his absence.

"Forgive me, Katherine, he wanted to come but I thought that you might not be up to so many visitors at once." said Dumbledore, bowing his head.

Katherine's chest swelled at his words and suddenly felt a lot more forthcoming, "In the memory, my mum said something about a prophecy…"

Dumbledore sighed, "I was hoping to not burden you with that so soon," he said, nodding the bare amount to be considered a nod, "But, yes, there was a prophecy made about you and Voldemort fifteen years ago."

"What does it say?" asked Katherine.

Dumbledore frowned, steeping his fingertips, "I myself was not present at the time it was made, coincidentally, in the staffroom by the very Professor who would go on teach you all about them this year."

"Professor Brown?"

"Yes, Katherine," said Dumbledore, almost too quiet to hear, his mouth receding even further behind his beard, "And, regretfully, there was a student in the room at the time."

Katherine read between the lines, "And that student reported it to Voldemort?"

"Regrettably his loyalties were not to me, yes." murmured Dumbledore, his eyes on his steeped fingertips.

"So I could ask Professor Brown –"

"No, Katherine, you couldn't," said Dumbledore, the gentlest of twinkles returning to his pale eyes, "Professor Brown was well and truly _beyond_. When she came to, she had no recollection whatsoever of sealing yours and Voldemort's fates."

It was as if she had been cast adrift.

"How am I supposed to know what I need to do then?" asked Katherine, indignity churning through her stomach.

"In general or in regards to Voldemort?"

Katherine almost smiled, "Voldemort."

"There is a place in the Ministry of Magic, aptly named the Department of Mysteries – it is there that all prophecies are kept, yours included." said Dumbledore, nodding once at her.

"That's good then, on the next Hogsmeade weekend I'll just –"

"I have already taken the liberty of sending an agent to locate it, and another brigade of trusted witches and wizards to keep an eye on it until the right moment for you to hear it," said Dumbledore, "Jasmine Copper may have been off beat of a few things in her article, but she was right about one thing,"

Dumbledore peered over his half-moon spectacles.

"Voldemort _chose_ you,"

Katherine closed her eyes, feeling as if she had been shot through.

"Things only have power because we believe they do; our wands, broomsticks, _prophecies_ …" continued Dumbledore, "If he hadn't decided it was you the prophecy was referring to – if he hadn't tried to kill you and murdered your parents in the effort, triggering the events that led you to this moment… the prophecy would just be a mere suggestion for a way life could unfold."

Katherine opened her eyes, "This prophecy, aren't you able to…view it… or something, so that we know what Voldemort knows?"

The shake of Dumbledore's ancient head set something to stone inside Katherine.

"The only people that can hear prophecies are those the prophecy is about." said Dumbledore, not blinking as he regarded her.

"He's after it too, isn't he?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore turned to leave.

"What about in general, sir?" asked Katherine.

Dumbledore paused by her bedside table, his eyes on the window.

"That is an answer you must seek yourself, young friend."

"We thought that you were a myth." admitted James from across the room, seeming to check Katherine over for any signs of being mythical.

Katherine smiled modestly, "Well, you were myth-taken." she attempted to joke, cringing at her own words.

Dumbledore suddenly slammed the window closed, and at James and Katherine's horrified expressions smiled bashfully, "There was a beetle," he explained, "Poppy does not play host to insects in here unless they're potion ingredients,"

James and Katherine shared a look, full of questioning about the eccentricity of their Headmaster.

"Mister Potter, I hope I am right in assuming that this conversation will not reach the ears of anyone else?" He concluded, turning to sweep away without waiting for James' _'Yes, sir_ '.

Katherine frowned at Dumbledore's back before she sat up, pushing her sheet back and swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"Dear, you should rest." advised McGonagall, resting a hand on Katherine's shoulder.

Katherine stood, McGonagall's hand falling from her shoulder. Not meaning to be angry with her, Katherine offered her a quick smile.

"I can't just sit around… I just… can't…" said Katherine.

She grabbed her wand from the side table and strode out with purpose.

She lost her purpose when she got out into the hallway.

But something good came of that afternoon. The very next morning, Katherine received an owl in the dormitory – an unusual occurrence – and a Quidditch uniform. There was a piece of parchment attached to the uniform.

 _Katherine,_

 _The Gryffindor Quidditch Team would be honoured to put your Dementor-defeating and strategic flying skills to use as our Seeker. It is sincerely hoped that you accept this offer._

 _Kind (only if you accept) regards,_

 _James Potter, Gryffindor Captain._

Marlene had promptly hung the uniform up next to hers before she pulled Katherine down to breakfast by the hand.

"It'll be brilliant playing together!" Marlene declared, pausing by the lavatory, "You go ahead, I've got to go to the bog."

Katherine went ahead, deciding to stop by the library to return her books on Dementors and Patronus Charms as she no longer needed them.

But, Hogwarts being Hogwarts, it wasn't the easy task that it should have been. She was pouring over a new tome she found on prophecies when she was approached by the most least likely of people.

"Katherine,"

Her head raising, Katherine was startled by lime green robes spangled with gold crescent moons. It was such precocious garb that she barely noticed the witch in navy robes next to her Headmaster, or the blond man in grey robes beside her.

"Miss Evans said we could find you here."

"Professor." said Katherine, remembering her manners before faltering when it came to addressing the two new faces.

"Katherine, this is the Minister for Magic; Millicent Bagnold."

Millicent Bagnold was a stately looking witch with rather plain robes for someone in such a prestigious position. Katherine got the sense that she it was a conscious effort to let the world know that she took herself too seriously to care about her appearance.

"And her assistant, a former student of Hogwarts; Mister Abbott."

Abbott seemed familiar – with white-blond hair that might link him to the Malfoys – but with green eyes, instead of the expected pale blue of the house, and a smile a little too honest to be anywhere near politics or bigoted purebloods.

"Pleasure." said Katherine, undecided on whether or not she meant it yet.

"We're here on business, I'm afraid," said Bagnold, "The incident on the Quidditch Pitch was only witnessed by a handful of underage witches and wizards and I am here to get the whole truth – or as much of it that I can get from a bunch of teenagers – and nip back off to the Ministry before the next –"

Bagnold set her eyes on two figures slipping around a bookshelf.

"Black! Potter! You two will need to answer questions too."

Katherine and James were given the honour of being primary witnesses as they had been the primary victims of the misappropriated creature, as Bagnold had phrased it. Dumbledore often interjected with comments alluding to dark wizards and a burgeoning war, but Bagnold seemed to have a sudden bout of deafness each time.

"You had to carry Miss Spencer, am I correct, Mister Black?" asked Bagnold.

Sirius; arms crossed, legs crossed, and backside resting royally on the book-laden table, regarded the most powerful witch in wizarding Britain coolly, " _Yes._ "

"And why would you do that?"

Sirius blinked slowly, "Because she couldn't exactly walk."

"And why not?"

"She was unconscious – fell fifty feet off her broom," said Sirius, "Have you ever taken a fall like that and walked away?"

"If you're going to give cheek, you can take a walk, Mister Black." said Bagnold.

"What do you say, James?" said Sirius, suddenly grinning at his friend, "The Black Lake?"

Sirius paused, his smile slackening as he turned to Bagnold with a dutiful indifference.

"Named after my great grandfather, if you didn't know, he was Headmaster here and a shoe-in for Minister for Magic back in his day."

Katherine snorted.

Sirius grinned.

Bagnold took a deep breath through her nose.

"I'd forgotten what kind of behaviour you foster here, Albus," said Bagnold, waving a strong arm across the library, "Abbott – come – I've gotten all I need to smooth this mess over!"

Abbott had been backed into a bookcase by a simpering Greengrass, pouting about how the wizarding world was no place for a girl of her standing to be left so defenceless.

"Miss Greengrass –"

"Griselda, please." said Greengrass, gazing up through her lashes, her hands clasped behind her back in feigned innocence.

Abbott gulped and smiled like a politician.

"Griselda," said Abbott, bowing his head, "The Ministry – and Azkaban – are as infallible as Hogwarts,"

He inched around, off of the bookcase, and brushed down his robes in an important manner.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find three safer places."

Katherine passed the pair that blurred into brown and white-blond hair, and her next obstacle on her bug out from the library were her fellow fifth years; James Potter and Sirius Black lounging on a table by the Restricted Section.

"When's the next electrical storm?"

"You're barking up the wrong tree – hassle Professor Brown for that rubbish."

"You're definitely brewing the potion though."

"Yeah…yeah… I've already owled dad for the extra ingredients…"

"Been doing your reciting?"

"I feel like a right prat – mumbling to myself morning and night…"

Her plait was predictably flicked while she continued skirting around the tables and bookshelves, Katherine sought refuge in the busy halls from conversations she wanted no part in.

But by the door she caught one last burst of words, Bagnold and Dumbledore having their heads bowed low; whispering furiously back and forth.

"Eleven years of peace, Albus," said Bagnold, sighing and frowning, "Maybe he simply caught Splattergroit and died in a ditch some place?"

Dumbledore said something, too quiet for Katherine to hear as she passed.

"Aurors? At Hogwarts?" Bagnold laughed rather boisterously for her stately demeanour, "Don't be silly – what purpose would they serve if not to frighten parents and children alike?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 12: Boys and Brooms (Preview) ~*_

" _As if he'd say no to Evans," said James, mussing his hair and squirming on the bench as he attempted something akin to indifference, "What with her flaming locks of auburn hair…and eyes of emerald bloody green…"_

" _I'd say no to her." said Sirius, without looking up from his crossword._

" _But you're a bloody nun – you stupid bastard," snorted James, sighing and pushing around his crusts on his plate, "You could have any girl you wanted."_

" _There are bigger things to worry about than my love life," said Sirius, flourishing his copy of the Daily Prophet, "Look."_

 _Witches and wizards scrambled around a podium within the photograph's frame, the border mocking them, 'Bagnold Too Old? Ministry Complacent With Security' circled the moving scene._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Boys and Brooms

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **Author's Note:**

 **{Edited on 01/01/2020}**

* * *

December came and brought with it sleet, snow, and the freezing over of the Black Lake.

Katherine hadn't felt her fingers completely since mid-November. The lack of sensation was exacerbated by daily Quidditch practise that left them frozen to the school broom Katherine was borrowing for the time being.

The shivering in the wind and snow for two hours every day wouldn't cease, though. James Potter was pedantic about their practises, wanting to be in tip top shape before Gryffindor's first match of the season. He, himself, had fallen prey to one of the many colds jumping from student to student in the close quarters the cold temperatures fostered.

Katherine was too frightened of being caught staring at Gideon to attempt it much anymore, no matter how often his N.E.W.T revision drove him into the library. He was always prepared to chat with her after nearly dying with her too, not that Katherine could manage more than a few words at once.

It wasn't unusual to see steam pouring out of ears as Katherine walked the hallways, it being a side effect of the Pepperup Potion Madam Pomfrey spent her days brewing and distributing. Her voice was often heard berating whoever would listen about staying indoors and wearing layers. There was a special level of shrillness reserved for Quidditch Captains and Quidditch players who came in both sick and injured.

It was while watching the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall one morning, waiting for a delivery from her Gringotts' vault that Giles arranged so that she could mail order a proper broom, that owls dropped identical green envelopes in front of Katherine and Lily.

"The Christmas party?"

"Yes," said Lily, pushing away a green-tinged piece of parchment, "It happens annually."

Marlene picked up the parchment, gold detailing glinting in the morning light, "But you've only just had the first supper of term."

"Well, it was delayed beyond the usual date," said Lily, shrugging, "But you can't delay Christmas."

The gold on the parchment lost the morning light, a shadow moving between it and the window. A shadow belonging to a conical-hat-wearing, booted witch with a severe black bun.

"Evans, McKinnon," said McGonagall, peering at a scroll over her spectacles with a quill poised in her right hand, "Staying over Christmas?"

"No, Professor." Lily and Marlene chorused.

"And, Katherine…"

Katherine caught the moment her friends averted their eyes from her.

"I'll be staying, Professor."

McGonagall froze her perusing of her scroll and looked over her spectacles at Katherine.

"Oh, sorry, dear," said McGonagall, before freezing again and fixating on Katherine's hair, "Have you dyed your hair?"

"Potions mishap," lied Katherine, swirling her teaspoon around her cup with the flick of her finger, "The pigment should return in a day or two according to Slughorn."

It wasn't a mishap at all – at least, not on Katherine's part. And it was the reason she was so easy to lose in the snow at Quidditch practises.

Greengrass had poured a potion over Katherine in the Entrance Hall a few days previous. It was a badly brewed boil potion which only served to steal her usual blonde tones. Unable to find a cure with her friends, Katherine hoped the pigment returned to her newly-white hair over time, not wanting to walk around looking like a Malfoy doppelganger any longer than she had to.

The incident only served to make Katherine, and her increasingly-less-reluctant-to-believe friends, suspect that it was Greengrass further retaliating due to Katherine not drowning in the passage with Gideon.

McGonagall continued to regard Katherine with a strange expression, her lips not in their usual purse.

"Is everything okay, Professor?" asked Katherine, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"Oh, yes, yes," said McGonagall, blinking, "Everything's fine…"

Along with her words, McGonagall trailed off and away down the table, taking names for other Gryffindors staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas period.

Lily looked ready to pop open, sitting up in her seat only to slump again like a lacklustre jack-in-the-box.

"I can always –"

"No," said Katherine with a smile, knowing what Lily was about to offer, "Lily, really, it's alright – you need to see your family – you can't even owl them during the term."

Lily nodded with a sad smile, her eyes on her juice and her mind undoubtedly on her parents Katherine had seen a photograph of on her friend's bedside table.

"It's okay – _promise_." said Katherine, eyeing her friends sternly with a smile.

Before they could manage any more sympathetic looks, McGonagall stopped across the table.

"Potter…Black… you'll be staying too, I presume..."

Lily shoved the green invitation into her pocket, Katherine still leaving hers unopened beside her plate of fruit.

"It's a good thing the party is before the train leaves." said Lily.

"So who are you going to ask, Lily?"

Emerald eyes found the Ravenclaw table before locking on the wood of the table, adamantly not looking up as the girl they belonged to whispered a name.

"Bertram Aubrey,"

Marlene dropped her spoon into her cereal, clutching a hand to her eye that milk had rushed up into.

The laughter across the table whittled down, Katherine assumed from distraction of the sudden noise as she hurriedly picked up a napkin for her friend who took it with mumbled gratitude, wiping her face and blinking out the milk.

"I've kind of had my eye on him since I came round during summer in third year and he was visiting your brother," said Lily cautiously, watching Marlene wipe her face and eye.

Across from them, the boys all continued to stare at the disturbance that had come in the form of Marlene – all except for James Potter, who stared resolutely at his bacon.

Lily took to gnawing on her bottom lip as she snuck another glance at the Ravenclaw table, rising up to see over stuck up jet black locks belonging to a bespectacled Gryffindor Chaser suddenly fascinated with breakfast meats.

It was while she searched for the Ravenclaw Quidditch player that Alice stood up, mumbling her leave.

Sighing, Lily sat back down in her seat, "Do you think he'd say yes?"

"Fat chance!"

The girls jumped and found Sirius Black snorting at his friend who had been distracted from his plate at last.

"I'm not going to that Christmas party with you, mate, Slughorn might think I want to do something with my life." said Sirius to James before leaning backwards precariously on the bench to reply to Remus who was sat on the other side of James.

James gave a half-smile, rolling his eyes before returning them to his plate where his eyebrows descended upon them in a thought-heavy frown.

"You won't know unless you ask him, Lily," said Katherine, smiling to bolster her friend, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"I'm going to leave,"

Marlene stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"I forgot to read that chapter on mending charms and we're covering it today – I should get there early and knuckle down."

Lily made to stand, "We'll come with you –"

"No,"

Lily frowned at her friend.

Marlene noticed and offered a light smile, "You've got to ask Bertram out – don't you?"

Lily plopped down, her eyes widening and staring at nothing.

"Oh, yeah," said Lily absently before her face snapped into panic, "Oh – _gosh!_ "

Marlene bowed her head and nodded at Katherine in farewell, stealing away down the hall and leaving Katherine with a suddenly catatonic Lily.

Lily had raised a hand to cover her lips delicately, " _I've_ got to ask _him_ out…"

James pushed up on his elbows with a roguish grin, "If you wanted to be asked out, Evans –"

"Lily," said a new voice, cutting James off.

Katherine turned, the Ravenclaw Chaser they had been talking about standing by her bag and smiling at Lily.

Bertram Aubrey was the type of boy girls wanted to take home to their parents and into a broom closet both at the same time. He was a sensible dresser, a half-blood, his grasp on both wizard and muggle garb impeccable. He had a sensible haircut, unlike the long hair that was so very in fashion, and he had a pleasing grin – just impish enough to make a girl blush and polite enough to use to push a girl's chair in at a family dinner.

Unlike the boys in fifth year – he was already a _man_ ; his Quidditch playing only enhancing his broad shoulders and chest while not making him overtly muscly.

Katherine understood Lily's attraction, but there was something… _something_ that didn't do it for Katherine…

"I ran into Alice on my way out – she said you wanted to speak to me?" explained Bertram.

"So you came all the way over here?" asked James from across the table, blinking with an arrogance that rivalled Sirius'.

The change even alerted his aforementioned best friend who looked up from his own green-tinged parchment, his face lined in surprise.

Bertram's smile tightened and his eyes flashed at James before he turned to Lily anew; perfectly gallant.

 _That_ was the something that was wrong for Katherine, the girl deduced. At least Sirius, known to be a bit insolent at times, was consistent and unapologetically sincere in his insolence – unpretentious.

"I'm sorry, Lily, are you otherwise engaged?" asked Bertram, his voice prim and knowing as he cast his eyes pointedly at James and back.

"No, not at all," Lily stood, Katherine able to hear her friend's breathlessness, "I'm heading to Charms, would you care to accompany me for part of the walk?"

"I have Potions…" trailed off Bertram, shuffling his feet and rubbing along his nose as he thought of the trek that awaited him and his debate whether Lily was worth it was plain on his arguably handsome face.

Lily pinked, "Oh, I – I can walk with you then?" she offered, gently pushing her hair over her shoulders.

Bertram grinned quickly, clasping his hands together, "Excellent."

Lily struggled with her bag as she stepped over the bench and made to join Bertram between the tables, him humming and looked around absently.

Conversation started up again only once the pair, a large height disparity apparent between them, slowly but surely disappeared from view and the Great Hall.

"What a wanker."

"He's got a fat head, don't you reckon?"

"I could make it fatter…"

"Isn't that hex illegal, Sirius?"

"What's life without a little risk?" declared James, hands flat on the table and smiling.

Sirius' eyes glinted and the corners of his lips slipped upward, his nose swinging around as he regarded his best friend with a certain fondness.

"Life _not_ spent in Azkaban, James," said Remus, flicking through the paper before sighing and handing it off to Sirius, "Crossword."

" _Jolly good_ ,"

Sirius sat up straighter as he wet the tip of his quill in his crystal ink pot that Katherine had admired from the first day she saw it catch the light in Charms and scatter it into countless colours over her desk.

"I won't do it just yet, though," said Sirius, grasping at the tail of their conversation as he inked in letters with ever-surprising care, "He might say no."

"You've got self-restraint – _lovely_ ," said Remus, shutting one eye and peering into the bottom an empty cup of coffee, "I was beginning to worry."

"As if he'd say no to _Evans_ ," said James, mussing his hair and squirming on the bench as he attempted something akin to indifference, "What with her flaming locks of auburn hair…and eyes of emerald bloody green…"

"I'd say no to her." said Sirius, without looking up from his crossword.

"But you're a bloody nun – you stupid bastard," snorted James, sighing and pushing around his crusts on his plate, "You could have any girl you wanted."

"There are bigger things to worry about than my love life," said Sirius, flourishing his copy of the Daily Prophet, "Look."

Witches and wizards scrambled around a podium within the photograph's frame, the border mocking them, ' _Bagnold Too Old? Ministry Complacent With Security_ ' circled the moving scene.

"Looks like it was something from the Department of Mysteries…" said Remus, his intelligent eyes roaming the lines of print and in between.

Dread trickled down Katherine's spine and a certain _knowing_ crushed down upon her shoulders at Remus' quiet but striking words.

Her conversation over hospital sheets with Dumbledore rang through the halls of her mind again.

 _The prophecy…_

 _He was after it too…_

Katherine waited for James to look at her, not disappointed when he almost snapped his neck in the feat.

"Some Unspeakable probably misappropriated a half-strung experiment and didn't want to fess up…" laughed Frank, "Dad says it happens all the time – their lot wanting to blame the Ministry whenever it suits them while constantly trying to become independent of them _... absolute poppycock_."

James laughed, his eyes betraying him as they stayed on Katherine – gleaming with his loyalty to the privileged knowledge he only received by mere technicality.

Between barking orders on the Quidditch Pitch and nods of acknowledgment in the hall, they hadn't interacted since the day of the Dementor attack. It was very much like running across a broken bridge to one another, their path's spotted by the holes in their knowledge – both limited. But there was a comradery in it. In knowing and not knowing.

A flying velvet sack broke air and Katherine's line of vision, an eagle owl hooting away without waiting for treats or payment. The embroidered 'G' and jingling sound it made told Katherine exactly what it contained. She stowed it away in her robe pocket, stood while sinking the last of her coffee, and offered James a nod before making her way to Charms.

It was at Charms where she found Professor Flitwick already perched upon a stack of books, piled up the east windows overlooking the lawns and part of the Quidditch Pitch. Marlene was flicking her textbook's pages disinterestedly at the very front desk in the classroom, her coffee curls stark against the snow-washed landscape veiled from them by wall-length window panes.

Katherine sat, in the middle seat as Marlene was leaning against the wall as she sat, and hadn't a moment to say even a half-thought greeting before Lily clattered onto the chair next to her, breathing hard from a rush up what would have been five flights of stairs if she had accompanied Bertram all the way to the dungeons.

It was as Lily's hands shakily produced her inkpot, parchment, quill, and textbook that Professor Flitwick's warbling voice erupted from the his chosen stack of books in front of them effectively silencing any possible conversation.

"Hi, hello, how are we all?" beamed Flitwick, not waiting for a response before he went on, "Mending Charms today!"

Chairs creaked as people behind Katherine sat up in interest.

"It will be a spell in your regularly used arsenal – a witches' and wizards' bread and butter, really," said Flitwick, flicking his wand at the board and dancing onto a new, shorter stack of books, "The wand movement and incantation is on the board, but before we get practicing – are there any questions?"

There were no questions, but an avalanche of students yelling ' _Reparo_ ', voices filling the classroom all the way up to its dusty rafters.

" _Oh_ , I almost forgot!" rushed out Flitwick before smiling congenially, "Today I will be covering for Professor Giles in period two so there will be no need to leave after the bell."

The news unsettled Katherine, her fingering the sack of gold in her robes, thinking of her absentee mentor instead of attempting the spell herself.

Lily had gotten it on her second try, the first resulting in a half-hearted flopping together of her ripped pieces of fabric, and had scowled as Flitwick commended Sirius Black behind them on getting it on his first try.

Marlene's best attempt was what looked like a badly stitched together wound that had scarred skin, not fabric.

The air was rippling in preparation for the bell to ring when Flitwick stopped by their table one last time, "Aren't you going to give it a try, Katherine?"

"Sorry, Professor, I got lost in thought," Katherine apologised, circling her wand at the piece of green felt that he had deposited on her desk earlier, " _Reparo!_ "

The green felt glowed gold and when the light subsided, even the frayed edges of the material were solid and smooth. It never failed to surprise Katherine how her magic always seemed to do exactly what she wanted it to.

"Marvellous!" cried Flitwick, "Ten points to Gryffindor!"

The bell broke through the walls of the castle, signalling the change-over of lessons, but not a single student in the Charms classroom so much as changed an expression as they waited for Flitwick to give further direction.

"Professor Giles didn't leave a lesson plan, I'm afraid," said Flitwick, "So this will be a study period for other subjects and an excellent opportunity to continue trying your mending charms while I am here to help."

It was after Flitwick hopped down and went to help Stebbins that Katherine pushed her chair back, in the middle seat, and sought the conversation of her two friends either side of her.

"My gold came after you two left."

Marlene grinned, reaching down into her bag, "Excellent, I have a broom magazine in my bag, hang on…"

"A broomstick?" said Lily, her round arches high and her lips twisted.

"Yeah, the first match of the season is next weekend and the school brooms vibrate too much when I go above fifty feet." said Katherine, shrugging modestly under her friend's critical eye.

Lily's lashes fluttered in rapid blinks, "But you need to get robes for Slughorn's Christmas party."

"She _has_ clothes, Lily," said Marlene lightly, pointing emphatically at her magazine, "She _doesn't_ have a broom."

"How much gold did you get out?" asked Lily, "Dress robes are around ten galleons at Gladrags..."

"I haven't counted it yet," said Katherine, finding the sack in her robe pocket, "Giles got it out for me."

"What did you tell him it was for?" asked Lily, frowning.

"A broom."

Marlene sat up a little straighter and smiled wider, "Then you _should_ get a _broom_."

"You can use the school brooms, you don't have any dress robes." maintained Lily, a delicate flush rising on her chest.

Images of her arriving sans robes to Slughorn's do but with a brand new Nimbus in hand circled Katherine's brain. After his dinner, Katherine wasn't sure that she'd be missing all that much if she opted out of attending the Christmas Party. But she knew she'd been letting down the entire Gryffindor team on one of the school brooms.

A broom was the pride of Quidditch player as much as boots were the pride of a Football player – there had been no shock for Katherine in switching between the sports.

"A Shooting Star will look like a joke next to Richard Davies' Comet two-sixty – _wait_ ," said Katherine, breaking off as her own words sunk in, "Davies only has a Comet… if I get a Nimbus, we'll definitely win…"

Frank Longbottom's head raised from his conversation with Alice across the aisle of desks and he regarded Katherine and Marlene strangely. It was then that Katherine noted the curious glances she was getting from the boys in their vicinity, mostly appraising.

"A Nimbus is one hundred and sixty galleons, Katherine…" said Lily slowly, eyeing Katherine sideways.

Marlene winced, "How much did Giles get out from your vault?"

Katherine reached into the bag, not finding the cool metallic rounds of currency, but parchment.

"Hang on," Katherine frowned, pulling at the parchment, "There's a note…"

Katherine found Giles' tidy scrawl, the only presence of the man in her day as he was absent from the Head Table and the lesson.

"' _Undetectable extension charm'_ … and there's a receipt," said Katherine, her eyes speeding down the parchment, " _Vault seven-oh-six…one hundred and seventy galleons withdrawn_ …"

Marlene snorted, "Was there any _left?_ "

"One hundred and seventy galleons…" mumbled Lily, frowning at the table as she counted on her fingers before she paused; eyes wide and voice hushed as she leant into her friend, "Katherine – that's over eight hundred pounds!"

"And only enough for a Nimbus," said Katherine, sighing and tilting her head with a shrug, "And maybe a broom servicing kit…"

Marlene grinned, slapping Katherine on the back, "I'll get you one for Christmas –"

"What about dress robes?"

Katherine felt her insides split two ways as she looked between her two friends, both facing with blank expectation to agree with them. A feeling pulled at her throat, a feeling that told her that her decision was for more than a broom or robes.

"Giles isn't around for me to ask him to get some more, so I'm going to have to pick..."

"It would make sense to just get a Comet and have enough left over for a nice pair of dress robes that will last you until you're out of school," said Lily, pausing and rubbing her forehead, "Oh, gosh – _I sound like my mother_ …"

"Cheer up, Lily," said Marlene – the epitome of cheerfulness in the security of knowing Katherine would choose to buy a broom over robes – playfully punching Lily's arm, "If worst comes to worst – Katherine can skip the party. Do you even want to go, Katherine?" continued Marlene.

Lily rubbed her arm, "How was punching me in the arm meant to cheer me up?"

Marlene shrugged.

"It works with the Quidditch team."

"Well, Quidditch players are thick, aren't they?" said Lily, neatening her robes.

Marlene blinked once, traces of amusement threading through her cheeks, "I'm a Quidditch player."

Lily didn't deign Marlene with a response, smiling at Katherine instead.

"And of course Katherine wants to go to the party," said Lily, nodding encouragingly, "Don't you?"

Katherine tucked her hair behind her ears before mashing her hands together on her lap, "I…er…"

A voice, from behind – and not above – as she had first thought in her gratitude for the intervention, stole Lily's attention.

"Evans." said James, a question in his voice and a glint in his eye.

Beside him, Remus had hunkered down in his chair, as if bracing for a shelling. Sirius was glancing around with his chin on his palm. And Peter was looking between James and Lily in avid anticipation.

"Potter." returned Lily, throwing a glance behind her.

"If I were an animal, what would I be?" asked James, grinning.

Lily didn't look up, suddenly pretending to be enthralled with her Transfiguration essay she was using the free lesson to work on.

"A pig."

"I better get on a broomstick, make that proverb come true."

* * *

"You know," said Lily as the girls walked to lunch, "Gideon's going to the party."

Katherine felt her throat constrict, "What's that got to do with anything?"

"He watches you, you know?"

"So does the rest of the student body." said Katherine, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"You should ask him – I bet he'd say yes," said Lily, taking to hanging on Katherine's arm with a bright, pleading smile, "You could double with me and Bertram!"

"I'm going to go for a fly, while the weather's good," said Marlene suddenly, hitching her bag up on her shoulder, "Save me a ham and cheese sandwich?"

"Of course." said Katherine, waving her friend off while noting that the snow had started to come down heavier as they passed a window ad that Marlene wasn't going in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch.

"I know Marlene's being a bit weird over not being invited, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have fun." said Lily, holding her books to her chest as the girls bounced down the moving staircases.

"That's not it," said Katherine, sighing, "I went to enough parties to last a lifetime with my Aunt and Uncle - I've only just started being able to slouch…"

"You can slouch all you want – Slughorn will still think you hung the moon and it's left over back problems from hauling it up to the heavens." joked Lily.

Katherine's lips twitched before she was emboldened by Lily's insistence that in Slughorn's eyes she could do no wrong.

"It doesn't have to be Gideon." said Katherine, feeling gratefulness swell in her chest at Lily's admission but not giving in based on that solely.

Lily's blaze of red hair swished as they jumped onto the ground floor to skip the disappearing step.

"You'd be staring at him all night no matter who you take," said Lily lightly, keeping her voice low – something Katherine was grateful for, "You might as well give yourself an excuse to."

"You're presuming that he would say yes if I asked him."

"You've got to give yourself some credit Katherine," sighed Lily, "Greengrass isn't the be all and end all of how people perceive your appearance,"

Katherine frowned, his eyes fixing on the hallway, her rather noting that the bathroom loomed ahead than get her hopes up.

"I'm just going to nip off to the loo, coming?" asked Lily, pushing her hair over her shoulders as they slowed by the door.

Katherine went to agree and step in before her lace nearly tripped her, "Yeah, you go ahead, I've got to tie my shoes first…"

Lily nodded and disappeared into the tiled room as Katherine bent down, placing her books on the ground before making quick work of her oxfords' laces.

Werewolf howls alerted Katherine to Greengrass' presence, the Slytherin one of the only students still using the form of teasing.

Katherine tensed, grabbing her books and quickly rising to her feet, her free hand feeling her robe pocket for her wand.

"Dementor Magnet, don't your family want you round for Christmas?"

The clanging of a suit of armour stole Katherine's attention from the group that was Greengrass, Flint, Avery, Mulciber, and Snape. The only person who seemed to notice apart from her was Snape, his greasy nose lifting in the direction, barely peeking out from between his limp curtains of hair.

The suit of armour reminded Katherine greatly of the manner Bagnold's assistant held himself in, and Katherine was struck by an undeniable string of words.

"It's probably for the best," said Katherine, sighing theatrically and nodding, "After all, Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the world – I'd hate to try my luck in an undefended manor in the countryside,"

The four out of the five that the comment applied to shared glances.

"The Ministry is relatively abandoned in the holidays too, isn't it?"

Greengrass' widow's peak perfectly lined up with her lips that buttoned with barely suppressed rage.

Katherine pretended to think, tapping her chin for effect.

"Guess that leaves Azkaban – I'm sure you'll become acquainted with their visiting hours soon enough when the Ministry catches up with your sweetie Mulciber and your dad for their uncommon hobby of torturing muggles for a megalomaniac."

The look on Greengrass' face could have allowed Katherine to cast a thousand Patronuses. Defeated and eyeing Katherine like she was something filthy, the Slytherin led her posse away, and Katherine allowed herself a grin before bouncing into the bathroom.

The rest of classes flew by, and before Katherine knew it, she was doing homework in the common room. She sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace, her shoes off, outer robe off, and sleeves rolled up. Rubbing an ink spot on her forearm after she finished the two feet for potions, she looked around.

Alice and Lily were on the couch, using their textbooks to rest their parchment on as they wrote. Marlene was a constant at the chess board by the window, playing her way through the First Years.

"Come on, Katherine," said Marlene, "I need someone new to play."

"I… I don't know how to play chess." confessed Katherine.

"You're kidding!" said Marlene, waving Katherine over with an eager grin, "Come sit down, I'll teach you."

Katherine hesitated, but spelled her finished homework dry, rolled it up and put it with her things on the table.

After slipping her shoes on, she sat opposite Marlene at the chess board.

The cold was leeching through the window, Katherine pulling her sleeves back down. Marlene nattered on about controlling the centre of the board and protecting the King. Katherine did her best to keep up with how the different pieces were allowed to move and capture, but the entrance clanged open importantly and a dark mass stole inside.

"Black," Lily stood, narrowing her eyes, "What are you doing coming in so late?"

Sirius paused just shy of the window where Katherine sat with Marlene, turning a cold expression on Lily.

"You're not McGonagall, Evans." said Sirius, narrowing his own eyes.

"Have you done something to lose us points?" asked Lily, crossing her arms.

"I wasn't _caught_." said Sirius, offence seeping into his already annoyed tone.

"Stands to question," Lily pressed, "What were you doing? Were any Prefects or Professors around?"

"Fine," said Sirius, "I broke into the Slytherin common room, jinxed Greengrass a bunch of times, and then left."

Katherine blinked, the chess game forgotten. Even Marlene wasn't bothered with pretending to not be listening either. A few first years had even taken to looking up at the statuesque fifth year in awe.

"Why on Earth would you do that?" asked Lily, eyes bulging.

"That's my business, Evans," said Sirius, with an obvious effort to be polite.

A grin split his face.

"Sorry." he tacked on, turning to continue to the Boys' stairs.

"Katherine, it's your move."

"Oh, sorry, er…"

Katherine stared down at the board, completely befuddled.

"Queen to E5."

Katherine looked up to see that Sirius had stopped by the chess board, regarding the game aloofly.

"Thanks." breathed Katherine, watching her Queen take Marlene's King.

Sirius leapt up the stairs without so much as a glance back, and the game reset itself on the chess board.

Katherine had never been less interested in playing.

"We've got a bloody Auror coming to the school, he should probably wise up." said Marlene, squinting at her chess pieces and ignoring the insults they sledged at her and each other.

"Auror?" asked Katherine.

"Dark Wizard catcher." said Marlene, moving a rook.

"The closest thing the wizarding world has to police." explained Lily, noting Katherine's expression.

Marlene rolled her eyes as she took one of Katherine's rooks, "Actually, he'd probably think Sirius had the right idea…' _attack the enemy before they attack you'_ …"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 13: Moody (Preview) ~*_

" _Hawthorne, what happened to our last recruit?"_

 _Before she could turn with her classmates to see the newcomer, Katherine saw the moment Giles snapped to his feet with wide, blinking eyes, his arms falling from across his chest._

 _Hawthorne was perched on an empty desk near the door that Katherine hadn't heard open again after Moody. The man was young, with wavy golden hair. His lips had twitched at Moody's words, and his eyes lifted at a leisurely internal pace, blinking amusedly._

" _He died."_

" _That's right, he died," said Moody, winning back a majority of eyes. "Benjy Fenwick was given a mission that should take five or six days, and he came back in five or six pieces," continued Moody._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Moody

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **{Edited on 01/01/2020}**

* * *

Friday morning began with a break in the December snow and the roar of "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Katherine, along with the rest of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, jumped, and turned as the door to the classroom was slammed closed with a sternum rattling _BANG_.

Giles, however, had silently, simply, and slowly retreated to the edge of his desk with a benign expression mounting on his stony features.

"Class," began Giles, lifting one hand from the edge of his desk to gesture to the imposing figure at the back of the aisle, "This is Alastor Moody; the Head of the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic."

Alastor Moody had a scarred, twisted face and a thick thatch of hair that he constantly had to push out of his eyes. He strode with the grace of a retired lion, his otherwise proud gate addled with what Katherine assumed to be injuries concealed from view by his grey robes.

Having taken the front desk on the window side of the aisle, Katherine and her friends were privy to the brisk and tense greeting the two men shared.

Neither shook hands.

"I didn't expect to see you back here, Giles," said Moody, pushing back his grey travelling robe to reveal a silver hip flask which he worked at unfastening from his belt as he spoke, "Word has it that you chose a different career path."

"Word from your new deputy, I take it?" asked Giles, leaning back more leisurely on his desk and blinking slowly, "Couldn't he make it today?"

Moody swallowed his gulp of mystery-flask-drink and regarded Giles over the top of it.

"Addressing the break in at the Ministry,"

Something unsaid hung in the air after Moody's words.

"Dumbledore asked you back?"

Giles lips momentarily tightened, whether he was suppressing a smile or something else Katherine couldn't tell, and he gave a curt nod.

"Well, then," said Moody, reattaching his silver flask to his belt, seemingly pacified by the mention of Dumbledore, "That's enough chit chat,"

Moody turned his dark, keen eyes on the class, his voice coming out like a growl, "I'm here because Dumbledore's asked me to give you lot a bit of a reality check due to recent events…"

Before he could go on, Katherine saw a hand shoot up in her peripheral vision.

"Is this about the Dementors, Mister Moody?"

Katherine gripped her quill to stop herself from dropping it, catching Giles' shoes glinting on the floor beyond it as she did so. Her eyes raked up her Professor; his knees, hips, and chest all facing her too. Every part of his body apart from his eyes, but even they flicked to their corners – to her.

Moody regarded Frank almost warmly, "It's about who sent them, laddie."

"The Ministry?" asked Greengrass from the back of the class, her fruity voice unmistakeable.

Katherine resisted the pull at the back of her eyes – the temptation to roll them. Glancing at her friend either side of her, Katherine found that Marlene didn't have the same self-restraint.

"You lot can be a right load of trouble for us sometimes, but no," said Moody with a brief twist of his lips that Katherine interpreted as a smile, "The Dementors only work for the Ministry because they are offered a steady supply of humans to feed on in Azkaban,"

Katherine had never felt more sympathy for the sorry souls withering away under the scabbed hands of the hooded creatures, unsure that anyone deserved such torment.

"If someone came along with a better offer, they would have no qualms about abandoning their posts,"

Moody eyed Katherine briefly, his eyebrows, like a two side-by-side torn blanket stitches, knitting together.

"And some have,"

Katherine felt transported at the reminder – transported to a place desolate of happiness or warmth. A quick turn of her head found a pale James; for once, not fidgeting, but not looking at anything at all.

Moody had paused for effect, giving Katherine a moment to rub out the goose bumps dotting her forearms and cover her marbling skin with her robe sleeves.

"Now, you've been learning about little beasties and shield charms, I take it?" continued Moody, "Well, I'm telling you now that shield charms don't hold up against Dementors or the killing curse,"

Katherine heard the flinches and jumps, and what predictably followed was the familiar sensation of eyes piercing her plait at the mention of the unforgiveable. The article by Jasmine Copper hadn't detailed the attempt on Katherine's life, but it went without saying that she had been around the curse – her lack of parents owing to it.

"There are some people who wouldn't like me to name names and point fingers on the off chance that it might scare you lot or breach a few laws," said Moody, tittering with his lips to mock what Katherine assumed were his superiors at the Ministry before scanning the rows of fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins sternly, "But there are witches and wizards out there that mean you harm,"

Moody broke his scanning and began pacing.

"Just last week, Evan Rosier – a known Death Eater – died during an arrest," said Moody, his grin twisting into a scowl as he rubbed what was left of his nose, " _Took a piece of my nose with him too, the bold blighter…_ "

The boys on the desk behind them weren't shocked; snickering and murmuring to one another.

"Wasn't he your cousin?"

"Married in," Katherine heard Sirius say, "If he was an actual Black he wouldn't have gotten caught let alone killed."

At the whispers and sharp intakes of breaths from their other classmates – whether in fear or at Moody's audacity – Moody flicked his wand at the blackboard; a crude chalk impression appearing at the front of the class.

"That's right, Death Eaters; cloaked, masked, and downright nasty cowards. They're all wands-blazing when they've got you outnumbered six-to-one, but as soon as their master shows up you should see them _squirm_."

Giles stepped forward from his place beside the board, his arms crossed as he peered at the drawing with the closest thing to a smile he allowed himself when teaching. With a quick lick at his lips, he settled back into place beside the board, leaning on his desk and crossing his ankles.

"There are murmurs in the streets and corners of pubs of another war –"

Lily sighed, and Katherine did too – along with anyone else in the room with any ties to the muggle world.

Vietnam had only just ended.

"– the likes of which we haven't seen since Grindelwald, and this is something the Auror Department are working to prevent one cloaked coward at a time," said Moody, righting his robes from where they caught on his hip flask, "No one wants to see a loony in power…"

" _Perspective_." muttered Sirius from behind Katherine and her friends, the boys having taken to choosing the desk behind their female counterparts in all classes.

Katherine had her suspicions that it had something to do with Lily.

"The takeaway message from my visit today is that; even though we're looking out for you, you need to keep your wits about you,"

Moody clapped his hands together, the room jumping as a whole at the sudden noise, but Moody just smiled innocuously.

"Any questions?"

"If there's going to be a war, will you be lowering the program requirements and taking on more Aurors?" asked James.

"To join the Auror Training Program, you need a minimum five N.E.W.T's and you will need to pass a series of aptitude and character tests."

"Outstanding's?" cringed Frank.

"Exceeds Expectations and no lower."

"That's barking!"

"It's barking mad that you would want to risk your neck for people you don't know."

The sniff that followed the words reeked of Slytherin gentry.

It was bait that James could not leave hanging on the hook for everyone to see, "We get it, you're a Slytherin – we know where you stand without your contribution."

"Today, we extended the offer to join our ranks to a few seventh years to accept once they've graduated and are qualified – something for you all to think about with your own career counselling sessions coming up," said Moody, pointing emphatically, "But not lightly."

"Being an Auror is all glamour and safe raids on wrongly accused people anyway."

"Glamour?" erupted James from behind Katherine, "Look at the poor sod and his hacked off honker!"

" _Please_ ," said Gina Bulstrode, the female Slytherin prefect in their year and the owner of the earlier distinguishing sniff, "I bet the Healers could have fixed it in a flash – he probably just left it like that to scare us."

Moody watched the back and forth between James and Bulstrode before his eyes caught on something at the back of the classroom. For the first time that day, Katherine thought that Moody seemed surprised, but then his grizzled face split with a grin – the gruff man seemingly pleased by what he had found there – and motioned to the class as a whole.

"Hawthorne, what happened to our last recruit?"

Before she could turn with her classmates to see the newcomer, Katherine saw the moment Giles snapped to his feet with wide, blinking eyes, his arms falling from across his chest.

 _Hawthorne_ was perched on an empty desk near the door that Katherine hadn't heard open again after Moody. The man was young, with wavy golden hair. His lips had twitched at Moody's words, and his eyes lifted at a leisurely internal pace, blinking amusedly.

"He died."

"That's right, he died," said Moody, winning back a majority of eyes.

Giggles from Bulstrode, Flint, and Greengrass alerted Katherine to the fact that she wasn't the only one still pondering the man. He didn't remain oblivious for long – not that Katherine thought he was ever truly unaware – finally looking right back at his spectators as he pushed himself off the desk and to his feet.

"Benjy Fenwick was given a mission that should take five or six days, and he came back in five or six pieces," continued Moody.

"I know what a turbulent mix of students a Gryffindor and Slytherin class is," said Moody, eyes scathing as they scanned the rows for any signs of immediate trouble, "Petty schoolyard squabbles used to just be a run-of-the-mill expectation when teenagers are in close quarters, but you are all coming of age in an extremely dangerous time,"

Katherine felt, rather than saw, the looks thrown between the green and red-robed students behind her.

Silent accusations had charged the air that Hawthorne loped noiselessly through to stand beside Moody. The extra set of authoritarian eyes ensured that wands and tongues remained holstered.

"It's all hexes and jinxes now,"

Her eyes fixed on the blackboard under the guise of studying Moody's drawing, Katherine became aware of a new pair of eyes on her.

"But one day, maybe even while still within these walls…one of you will throw a curse,"

Katherine remembered Mary MacDonald, writhing under the effects of the cruciatus curse. The discovery had come only a week after her father had been pronounced dead after a month of being missing in what was painted as a workplace incident inside the Department of Mysteries in his role as an Unspeakable.

"Combine proficiency in dark magic and spouting about prejudices… and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named might even spare you,"

One of Moody's scarred hands clapped down on the corner of the desk beside Katherine's inkpot, the other doing the same to the desk Frank and Alice shared across the aisle.

"Or worse,"

From between the two front desks, Moody smiled over the class darkly.

"He'll induct you."

It was a tie-loosening, collar-pulling silence that followed – that was if anyone had been brave enough to move.

It seemed that only Hawthorne was.

"Alastor, if I may?"

"If you must… _it's all lost on them anyway…_ " grumbled Moody, stepping back.

Hawthorne stepped into Moody's place; commanding despite his half-tucked and half-unbuttoned shirt. Katherine thought that he might have just hopped off a broom, never having seen someone so gracefully dishevelled.

"The times we're in…the battle we're on the brink of…it's not like the muggle wars where they go charging across clearly drawn lines: _right_ and _wrong_ , _good_ and _evil_ –" said Hawthorne, breaking off and rubbing his jaw before holding himself wider at the hips and shoulders, "War isn't waged on one field, for one day, and then you all go home and have tea once the sun goes down,"

Hawthorne's lips flicked up like the wisps of blond hair above his ears, stuffing his hands in his pockets and strolling along the front of the room.

"And if you think you're exempt just because you're underage – think again," said Hawthorne, taking his hands out of his pockets and pointing at a spot on the floor, "Division across all of the wizarding world begins _here_ – now,"

He paused, licking his smiling lips as he looked down at his shoes. Katherine could see a twinkle of laughter in the corners of his eyes that didn't make it to his lips.

"I know, I know," said Hawthorne, amused, holding up a pacifying hand, "It all seems a bit dramatic, but I'll spare you any further spiel in place of some perspective,"

Hawthorne clapped his hands crisply together.

"Everybody stand,"

Groans filled the room.

Hawthorne grinned, waving his wand to push the vacated desks to the sides of the room while making mustering gestures.

"Come on, come on, a bit of exercise will do you good,"

Katherine and the girls put their bags together by Giles' desk, the Professor giving Katherine a gentle push on her back in the direction of the cleared middle of the class; sensing her trepidation. She noted that he made no move to join the exercise.

It quickly became clear that the Deputy Head Auror wasn't afraid of mixing the houses like Moody, Hawthorne hooking a hand around Marlene's elbow to separate her from Katherine and Lily.

"Alright, you over there…and you here…"

When there were seven a side and the remaining unsorted group of students got slimmer, Hawthorne's eyes finally fell on Katherine, and she promptly fell into them.

It was there – in the quicksand of his eyes – that she saw the miniscule change in the ratio of white to iris; irises that were like sun through Butterbeer. They flickered to her hair, halted, and then fixed back on her eyes before he cleared his throat and nodded pointedly to the side he had just directed Lily to by the windows.

Katherine stepped up into the space Lily had left between her and James. Alice was on Lily's other side and Frank on James'; the five being the only Gryffindors getting their backs chilled by the leeching frost on the windows.

"Your hair, Katherine!" whispered Lily, pointing surreptitiously at Katherine's head, "It's just gone back to normal!"

Katherine sought the ribbon at the end of her plait and saw the mousy shade she had always shared with her Uncle as Hawthorne guided a blushing Bulstrode to the window side, catching Katherine's eye once more, and then stood back and opened his arms.

"Take a good look,"

The Gryffindors stared across at their housemates they had been separated from, both groups edged in green.

"Both sides have casualties in wars,"

Katherine thought that Remus and Sirius looked strange without the gradient of James between them.

" _Your_ friends –"

A waft of peppermint wrapped around her nostrils and the whisper of _'Spit out that bloody gum, Potter_ ' from Lily alerted Katherine to her Captain beside her. On the other end of his gaze, the boy unperturbed by Lily apart from a quirk of his lips, she found Sirius and Remus, and – at first glance – she had thought that Regulus was standing on the other side of the room, but in speeding along the line, the green robes had simply blurred around Sirius.

Katherine found the illusion stomach-splitting.

"– _Their_ friends,"

Greengrass' widow's peak was a sharp as her stare that Katherine found upon herself, not softened by Marlene's chestnut curls she was battling to keep her nose out of. Snape flicked his wand to flatten Marlene's curls for Greengrass to see over, Bulstrode and Flint sniggering and whispering behind their hands.

Sirius caught it out of the corner of his eye, Remus catching his friend's wand arm that was seeking out Snape. But Remus couldn't soften Sirius' jaw – pulsing and sharp enough to cut glass.

Katherine made out something about Sirius 'vanishing all the bones' in Snape's body before Giles stepped forward with a warning shake of his head, falling into place at the end of Katherine's line to keep an eye on the clashing group.

"Half," said Hawthorne crisply, suddenly.

The blond stopped between the groups, his eyes lifting from the floorboards but his hands remaining tucked in his pockets.

His eyes roamed along each half.

"Half of you won't live much further beyond your Hogwarts years."

"Which half?" asked Greengrass, taking stock of the calibre of each side as if to discern if one was more skilled than the other.

Hawthorne paused and smiled at nothing tangible, and most definitely not at Greengrass, and raised his eyebrows.

" _That's_ for all of you to decide,"

"I know better than to think I can resolve hundreds of years of rivalry with a few words," said Hawthorne, beginning to walk towards where Marlene and Greengrass stood across from Katherine, "But you lot are one insult away from starting a war,"

Hawthorne fell into the line directly across from Giles, the two lines perfect mirror images; Slytherin to Slytherin, Gryffindor to Gryffindor, and wizard to wizard despite their differences in hair colouring and nose-crookedness.

With one last look along the window-side-line, starting with Giles and nodding as he went at what he had accomplished with his exercise, his eyes caught on Katherine, stalling just short of the end of the line.

Katherine's fingers released her newly returned hair colour as she smiled bashfully, mashing together her hands in front of herself that were suddenly sweaty in the draft-filled classroom.

Hawthorne tilted his head with a crinkle of his eyes and a flash of gold as his hair was hit by the cold light streaming in against Katherine's back.

"This will be the cost."

The bell punctuated Hawthorne's words, and the scramble for bags and the door was accompanied by the parting growl of " _CONSTANT VIGILANCE!_ " from Moody.

"Katherine."

Giles crooked a finger at Katherine with a pensive expression, turning and stuffing his hands in his pockets as he strode back to his desk.

Katherine felt caught.

Lily was at the door, Giles was at his desk, and Hawthorne and Moody were conversing at one of the desks between it all.

"I've got a Prefect meeting anyway." said Lily, turning to file out with the rest of the class.

"He's brilliant, isn't he?" said James as he and the rest of the Gryffindors moved past Katherine to the door, "Moody…"

"I've overheard conversations about him," said Sirius, flicking his hair back from his face, "He's about to be gently guided into early retirement if he can't prove that he knows the difference between a handshake and an attempted murder."

"Guys – look – it's storming!" Peter piped up, pointing out the window.

Sirius gave an uncharacteristic grin.

"James?"

James nodded, adjusting his glasses.

"It's ready."

"You lot really shouldn't –"

"It's an extra safety precaution, Moony."

"Look, we'll be careful," said James, slinging an arm around Remus' shoulders and waving at Katherine with a smile as they moved past completely, "I wouldn't jeopardise my flying ability this close to Gryffindor's first game of the season if I wasn't confident."

Pushing the approaching Quidditch match far from her mind and her bubbling stomach, Katherine made familiar steps towards Giles' desk, passing Hawthorne and Moody – the Wizards accompanied by a dragon Patronus that Hawthorne was mumbling to while maintaining his conversation with Moody at the same time.

"This is exactly why I knew you wouldn't be able to handle being here…"

"Moody, I'm handling quite fine."

"I know what the nature of your last visit to the school was about – nearly eleven years ago now, wasn't it?" asked Moody, "Bound to dredge up memories, right?"

" _Of?_ "

"Katherine," said Giles, blinking amusedly at her attempt at eavesdropping, "If you can bring yourself to stop ogling someone else's corporeal Patronus long enough to let me know what progress you've made with yours – I would most welcome it."

Katherine's eyes prickled with heat.

"Sorry, Professor," said Katherine, tucking stray wisps of her hair behind her ears.

Giles raised his eyebrows with the faintest of smiles before inclining his head expectantly.

"I… I haven't gotten beyond a shield," revealed Katherine, looking down and pressing her lips together, "I just…don't have any memories to use,"

Quicksand was trickling at her heels, _Hawthorne's eyes_ – Katherine knew.

Giles' eyes, however, were molten, and boring into her with the most sympathy she'd ever pried from him.

"Not any happy ones, anyway…"

"They don't have to be happy,"

Katherine looked up, seeing Giles' eyes flicker over her shoulder to their own eavesdroppers.

"Just powerful."

Katherine found herself at yet another loss, "I'm afraid I don't have any of those either, Professor."

Giles twitched like he always did when she addressed him by his position.

"What's something that sticks with you?"

Katherine hesitated.

"I have this memory…I'm not even sure if it's real…that I got on the first day of term when we took the carriages up to the castle…" said Katherine, looking down at her knitted together fingers, "I was being carried – they were running – and…I just felt so incredibly _safe_ …"

"Think on that memory, keep practicing, and meet me here Monday evening." said Giles, nodding at the door in dismissal.

"Why not on the weekend?" asked Katherine, "I don't have a permission slip, so I'm here anyway…"

Giles smiled slowly, "I was under the impression that you would spend the weekend trying to procure a broom for Gryffindor's first match,"

Katherine resisted a groan of reluctance to so much as think on what her fellow classmates also deemed her most pressing matter. She knew that she would rather face a Dementor again if she were being honest with herself.

Despite it being internal, it seemed that Giles heard her resignation.

"Regardless, you'll be the best Seeker in at least twenty years."

Katherine smiled, remembering a conversation with McGonagall after Transfiguration the previous day where she impressed upon Katherine the importance of being on the Gryffindor team.

"Seventeen," said Katherine, shrugging, "According to McGonagall, anyway."

Something slipped over Giles' face – something that he tried to force a smile through.

"I probably knew them then," said Giles tightly, pushing himself up from the edge of his desk and walking around it to shuffle parchment around, "But you better be off – have something to eat."

"Yes, sir." said Katherine, turning.

"It's good to see that your hair's back to normal."

Katherine smiled as the words washed over her shoulders.

Skirting around Hawthorne's silvery dragon, Katherine let the warm breath of the Patronus' fire tickle her into the hallway, making for the ground floor where her friends and lunch awaited her.

Just shy of the entrance to the Great Hall, Katherine saw a gathering of multi-coloured robes swelling by the statue of the one eyed witch. A blaze of red hair earned more of Katherine's attention – Lily.

"Katherine!" said Lily, beaming and waving a robed arm, "Katherine – over here!"

Clusters of badged students paved Katherine's way to her friend. Narcissa, Bulstrode, and Pucey were the only green robed students conversing with those not from their house; Narcissa having a pursed-lipped-conversation with the blue-robed Pandora – her soon to be sister-in-law.

Perhaps most entertaining of all, was the conversation between Damocles Belby and Alexander Wood that Katherine caught exasperated phrases of as she slipped around them to the statue of the One-Eyed-Witch.

"You really shouldn't encourage my brother into such brutishness –"

"He's a _Beater_ , Belby," said Wood, eyes glinting and lips smiling, "It's part of the job description."

"So is playing by the rules," said Damocles, righting his spectacles, "He's not that bright – he needs structure now so that he doesn't think it's acceptable to thump people when his proposals fall flat at the Ministry."

Lily, however, had two identical heads of blond hair in conversation.

Katherine thought her heart might fly out of her chest as she joined them, feeling the full weight of the group's stares.

"I don't want to impose," said Katherine, glancing between Gideon and Lily, "This is a prefect meeting…"

"Hardly," said Fabian, slinging an arm around Katherine's shoulders, "Fortescue and I crashed long ago,"

Alice was indeed with the group; hidden from view by the hump of the statue.

Before Katherine could greet her friend, Fabian arm squeezed like it did when he commended her after a good Quidditch practise. As she smiled to play off her lack of breath from the squeeze, Katherine caught Gideon's amused eye and wondered if his arm would feel the same…

"Did you guys have Moody today?" asked Fabian, shifting his weight across his hips to settle on the leg flush against Katherine's.

"Auror Moody." said Gideon with a saint-like patience threading through his smile.

Fabian waved his hand that wasn't dangling over Katherine's shoulder.

"One good thing came of getting the dressing down of my life, I guess," said Fabian, nodding at Gideon with a goading grin, "At least I know what to get you for Christmas."

"What's that?" asked Gideon with slightest narrowing in the corners of his eyes.

"Your very own hip-flask."

"Sod off." muttered Gideon, despite his smile, pushing his twin's shoulder.

Fabian stumbled and his arm fell from around Katherine, but he just laughed, rubbed his shoulder, and leant his uninjured one against the wall.

"Speaking of Christmas," said Lily, grinning, "Is everyone accepting Slughorn's invitation?"

Katherine wished Hawthorne would show up so Katherine could be swallowed in quicksand.

 _At least_ , she thought to herself, _Marlene wasn't there to bring up the broom or robes ultimatum_.

Fabian shook his head, and Lily shifted her gaze onto Alice.

"Alice?"

Alice pinked, shifting her books around in her arms, "Yeah, Frank's just asked me."

"Gideon, are you going?" asked Lily, throwing a non-too-conspicuous sideways glance at Katherine, "Surely you would be, being Head Boy."

"I'm still thinking about it," said Gideon, shrugging and looking behind them, "I have lots of study to do."

"Katherine's mentioned that she's seen you in the library a few times." said Lily, surreptitiously hip-checking Katherine.

Katherine could have fainted with mortification as Gideon's eyes graced her with their tawny attention. To keep her composure, she started reciting her homework load for the day in her head and found an opportunity to escape Lily's good intentions.

"Which is where I should really be right now," said Katherine, tucking her hair behind her ears and avoiding every person present's eye, "I need to finish my palmistry diagram before Divination."

Gideon nodded, his eyes shifting behind Katherine, "And I have Head's business with Narcissa, so if you guys will excuse me…"

"It's Narcissa now, is it?" Katherine heard Fabian mutter as she turned tail and navigated through the small groups of Prefects.

It seemed that Gideon didn't have her same issue, not challenged in regards to his height, and had beat her to the edge of the throng; already having found the Head Girl.

"You're Head Girl and her Prefect – can't you do something about it?"

Narcissa eyed Gideon coolly, "If I wasn't doing something about it there'd be a lot more articles in the Prophet from Skeeter's insider tips – trust me."

Gideon sighed, smoothing down the side of his hair – his gold signet ring flashing against his gold hair.

"Can't you do more?"

If Narcissa weren't such a lady, she might have scowled, but the polite equivalent was a pursing of her lips.

"It's not _my_ fault that Dumbledore is flaunting his friend around the school."

"His presence is necessary," said Gideon, lifting an arm before halting, sighing, and clenching his fist before letting it drop back to his side, "You know that."

Narcissa eyed his hand where it dangled at his side.

"We never had any problems before this year."

Gideon tilted his head, " _Black._ "

Narcissa raised her eyebrows in a way that nearly sent Katherine to the floor at the similarity it possessed to her cousin's – and Katherine's fellow housemate – default expression.

" _Prewett_."

Katherine finally broke into the clear stretch of the Entrance Hall.

It was in her rush, that she almost missed the blurs of four sets of robes down a less-frequented hallway, and that one of them was on the ground. Her wand found her hand without another thought, and she was careening down the hallway as fast as her feet could take her.

She could distinguish Snape as one of the three towering over the floor-bound-figure immediately, his weedy stature unmistakeable. Greengrass, perhaps, Katherine knew was there on instinct instead of visual confirmation, and Flint at her side was a given – Bulstrode still downstairs in the Entrance Hall with the rest of the Prefects.

The floor-bound-figure was dragging themselves backwards with eyeing the three Slytherin's with fear, and as Katherine got closer she uncovered the identity of their victim. Chubby wrists strained against the stone floor as they peeked out from red-lined robes, and mousy brown hair was plastered by sweat to the boy's side profile from which he buck teeth protruded from.

A cold prickled Katherine's skin as she remembered being in a similar position to Peter Pettigrew.

 _Her shoe caught on the uneven pavers and gravity pulled her to the ground. A pulsing, hot pain in her tailbone made her gasp. But with the man still advancing, she used her hands to propel herself backwards, hoping… just hoping–_

" _Petrificus Totalus!_ "

The hallway was absent of a blond man leaping away from her and Katherine realised that – caught up in the memory – she had been the one to use the spell this time around.

Instead of a Death Eater seizing and dropping, Flint hit the floor beside Peter.

"Leave him alone." said Katherine, stepping between Peter and the remaining two Slytherin's.

Snape seemed pacified by Katherine's presence, his eyes flickering behind her for any sign of red hair – _of that_ , Katherine was sure.

"I don't think you're in any kind of position to order us around," said Greengrass, holding her wand to Katherine instead, "It's three on two."

"It's more like three on one, Pettigrew's useless." said Snape, his wand remaining at Peter as he gave a condescending tilt of his head in observation.

The bell to signify the end of lunch also brought an end to the mounting tension in the out-of-the-way corridor.

All wands dropped from the air in an undeniable stalemate. People would start flooding the hallways and it would only be a matter of time until they would be discovered and disciplined.

"Remember what Moody said, Spencer," said Greengrass as she helped Flint to her feet, all but sneering, "Shield charms won't stop an unforgiveable."

Katherine sucked her cheeks, holding a hand out to Peter.

"I hope you're picking your half carefully, Greengrass." said Katherine, huffing with effort when the plump boy finally put a shaking hand in her own.

Greengrass laughed and she, Flint, and Snape rounded on Katherine and Peter to pass them.

"From where I'm standing –" said Greengrass, her eyes sliding to Peter and then back to Katherine "– the grass on my side is, indeed, _greener_."

Katherine let out a huff of air as the three Slytherin's marched from sight, joining the trickles of students streaming along the main hallway.

"Thanks," mumbled Peter, brushing down his rumpled robes and pulling his tie the right way around, "I was fearing for the safety of my pants back there."

For a moment, Katherine wondered where the rest of the fifth year Gryffindor boys were – their absence surely resulting in Peter's unfortunate accosting.

"It's alright, Peter," said Katherine with a smile she couldn't keep her pity out of.

Peter was an easy and often target of Slytherin's, but Katherine had always been beaten to his defence by James and Sirius.

"Heading to Divination?" asked Katherine, realising that she had never spoken to the boy before and being struck down by listlessness

"Yeah…"

"Late…late…" sang Professor Brown when Katherine and Peter finally made it to Divination, sighing and twirling around the tables to the front of the classroom, " _Why_ _is_ _nobody ready_ …"

All of the round tables were indeed already occupied by Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, leaving only two free by the door.

Katherine spared a look at Peter, finding him rubbing his cheek and eyeing all their fellow paired students.

They would have to pair together.

Sitting daintily on the wooden chair, Katherine pulled out her guide on palmistry as Professor Brown's curly writing on the board instructed, and waited for Peter to do the same.

"Those sitting on the left can read first…" announced Professor Brown, drifting around to sit upon her throne-like chair at the front of the class.

Katherine took a moment to orientate herself to the room and the woman, and discovered that she was seated on the left and took Peter's outstretched and twitching right hand.

Before the incense could draw a lull over the room, the door burst open and a stream of fresh air stiffened everyone's spines.

Being closest to the door, Katherine only had to turn her head the slightest amount as she righted her skirt to discover that the sudden entrance had been of James and Sirius.

James laughed and pushed Sirius with a roughness that would probably send Katherine to the Hospital Wing, "You're barking!"

"Please be seated…" sighed Professor Brown, "And join the rest of the class in today's activity…"

The only remaining table was at Katherine's elbow.

Taking Peter's hand anew – having dropped it at the opening of the door – Katherine compared the lines on his hand to the guide in her text.

"You have a rectangular palm with short fingers so…. that's a fire hand…a sign of extreme impatience…being prone to burnout and incomplete undertakings…and being able to turn emotions on a dime…"

Katherine frowned, tracing and increasingly sticky line at the top of his palm.

"Your heart line is branched downwards…that represents unhappiness or poor quality in relationships…"

The fact that Peter's friends were listening in was made apparent by snorts at her back that Katherine chose to ignore.

"Your head line has crosses all along it…they signify vital and crucial decisions made in your life that can have a direct impact on your fate…"

Peter blanched, leaning over and assessing his hand in tandem with Katherine.

"You have an absent life line… which indicates a nervous individual…"

Katherine let go of Peter's wrist, her hand having not been able to completely close around it, and offered up her own – far slender in comparison. It if were anyone else, she may be self-conscious about her new flying-earnt-callouses.

"Your turn." said Katherine, flicking her plait onto her back and leaning forward eagerly.

The gentle pull on her plait from behind barely distracted her, but Katherine noted in the recesses of her thoughts that it was more tender than usual, her having to fight a shiver of pleasure.

Peter held her wrist gingerly as he craned his neck to look at his textbook, his eyes flickering back to her hand with a frown.

"You've got a, er…water hand, I guess…" said Peter, shrugging, "It means you're sensitive and caring…and stuff…and have problems coping with stress…"

Katherine glanced surreptitiously at her own book, checking his accuracy.

"Your heart line is sort of broken…which means that you're often stressed and have suffered emotional trauma."

Katherine, yet again, checked the guide herself, and found that he was correct.

"Your head line has heaps of branches which….um…signifies events yet to come that will take you off your path –"

"Air hand?" snorted James, letting go of Sirius' wrist as he contemplated his book, "More like air-head."

"Oi!" said Sirius, grinning and shoving James' own hand into his bespectacled face, "You've got one too, you numpty!"

"I'm more of an Earth hand," said James waving the book around in proof before reading from it, "Practical, hard-working… _dependable and stable in relationships_ …"

Katherine didn't see the glance he threw at Lily, but was aware of it as she was of the sun beginning its decline to the horizon.

"As well as quick-tempered, stubborn, and lacking in patience," said Sirius, reading from his own book before his lips slipped up and apart, "I suppose your fingers _are_ smaller than mine…"

"Let's do you then, you lousy sod," grumbled James, his smile detracting from any attempt he may have made at actual disgruntlement, "Restless, easily bored…yeah, it's all there, mate."

"Don't forget good intuitive capabilities, excellent communication skills, and attentiveness to details."

The bell rang, and Katherine and Peter split for their friends.

"Greengrass is in with the Death Eaters."

Lily ducked her head, looking around as she pulled Katherine to the side of the hallway beneath the Divination stairs.

" _Christ_ , Katherine…" Lily pulled Katherine into an alcove occupied by a statue of a former Headmaster, " _I leave you alone for ten minutes…_ "

Katherine almost smiled, but was overtaken with purpose to explain herself, "She, Flint, and Snape were jinxing Peter in one of the second floor corridors –"

"Are you sure it was Severus?"

Lily's creasing eyes and lip gnawing gave Katherine pause.

"I spoke to him, Lily," said Katherine, as gently as possible, before clearing it up, "Well… _he_ spoke to _me_."

"What did he have have to say?"

"Pretty much that Peter was useless –"

"– Well, he's not _wrong_ –"

"But that's not it –" continued Katherine, "Greengrass and I exchanged…er… _words_ about what was said in Defence,"

Lily frowned.

"She basically said that I was on the losing side – meaning that she'd picked a side – the Death Eater side –"

"Isn't there somewhere you girls should be at quarter past one on a Friday?"

The two girls whipped around to find a tartan-clad witch gazing over her spectacles.

"Somewhere with plants and questionable odours?" continued McGonagall, lifting a round arched eyebrow.

"Yes, Professor, we're just going now." Said Lily, hooking her arms through her friend's and pulling her down the hall with a bowed head.

"So where were you going with the whole Greengrass and Death Eaters thing?" whispered Lily as they loped across the lower east floor courtyard to the Greenhouses.

"Oh, yeah," said Katherine, picking back up, "She'd be bound to be meeting up with them on Hogsmeade weekends to get her next idea on where to lock me and what with, so I thought that you could help me sneak down and we can follow her."

"It wouldn't be safe."

"I'm not really safe here either if you consider the past attacks." said Katherine, leaning against the outside wall of the greenhouse as they came to a stop.

Lily sighed, and turned to Katherine with a twisted expression.

"You heard Moody –" said Lily "– they know you're here, and it's the best time to send one of them to do you in."

"Not to mention the fact that my parents are dead and there's no one to sign my permission form." said Katherine, conceding.

"Jeez, you girls are morbid."

Lily whirled around, her frown evaporating, "Bertram!"

"Lily," said Bertram, nodding at the girls in turn, "Katherine – how are you?"

"Dandy, thanks," said Katherine, "Yourself?"

"Just hoping that Lily will agree to spend tomorrow in Hogsmeade with me –"

"The greenhouses have been declared unsafe for habitation after an explosion of dung and snargaluff pods, I'm afraid," said Professor Sprout, emerging from the aforementioned Greenhouses and pulling a cloth from around the lower half of her face.

"This time it wasn't me." said Sirius to his friends as the boys stepped forward next to the girls.

"We'll be having today's class in the castle but I'll need a volunteer to help me wrangle the screechsnap into a hessian sack to bring up," said Professor Sprout, gazing around, "Any takers?"

Marlene immediately stepped forward, "I'll help, Professor."

"McKinnon, lovely!" beamed Professor Sprout, handing her a cloth to tie around her face, "Knew you were made of tough stuff – your brother was too…"

"Go ahead Katherine, follow the others and you'll be alright, I'll…" said Lily, trailing off with a look at Bertram before smiling, "I'll catch up."

Katherine followed Alice to a sun-bathed classroom on the third floor, but Frank stole the second seat of their chosen desk before Katherine could slide in, and she resigned herself to sitting at the front left desk on her own – ears keen for the return of her friend.

"Hello, Katherine,"

Katherine turned to see, not Lily nor Marlene even, but a gently smiling Remus Lupin.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

Katherine found herself returning his smile, "Go ahead, Remus."

"Thanks." breathed out Remus out as he sat himself beside her.

Sirius, James, and Peter all ran in a moment later. They pushed each other into a seating order and plopped eagerly down in the seats behind Katherine and Remus.

"Discretion never has been your forte." remarked Sirius.

"Remember when he burnt his name into the Quidditch Pitch in third year?" said Peter.

"Astonishingly enough, his penmanship was so terrible that he got away with it." said Remus from beside Katherine.

"Who did they blame for it again?" asked James.

"Jane… something or other…" said Peter, unconcerned.

Between listening to the lesson and over-hearing comments from Sirius and James, Herbology flew by and it was time to move off to the common room before dinner.

Feeling too strange at the thought of walking with the boys, Katherine hurried ahead; catching Lily getting pulled around the corner by Bertram, and the back of Marlene's curls bouncing around the opposite corner.

Sighing, Katherine maintained a distance of a handful of paces between her and her fellow fifth year Gryffindors. But their laughter and general clowning behaviour still reached her ears and reminded her of the fact that _her_ friends were notwith her, their noise hitting an all-time high after James was asked to Hogsmeade by a third year.

"Sorry, I'm going stag." James had said, letting the girl down with a pat on the back and a lop-sided smile, and it seemed to Sirius and Peter to be the height of hilarity once the girl was out of ear shot.

"It's brilliant, honestly," said Sirius as he and James took up residency at the chess set by the window, "You, then me – I dead-set thought that you were going to give me away in Divination –"

"Sirius Black?"

Katherine looked up from her homework to see Sirius blink and swing around to look at Jeffrey Alderidge where he fiddled nervously with something in his hands.

"Just Sirius will do." said Sirius, regarding the younger Gryffindor with a furrow of his brow.

Jeffrey nodded quickly and held out his hand, "Er… I was told to deliver this to you, so…here you go."

Sirius slowly accepted what looked every bit of a letter, bound in a satin green ribbon.

The boys' conversation had stalled, and they all looked between Sirius and the letter.

"Thank you, Jeffrey." said Sirius, waving a hand in dismissal as he frowned down at the rolled up parchment.

Katherine watched quietly as Sirius stowed the letter away into his robe pocket, grinning it off before stuffing his mouth with an apple he procured from the depths of one of his robe pockets.

While waiting for Lily to return, Katherine finished her palmistry diagram – complete with analysis of all of her mounts – and lazily attempted her Patronus in her disappointment at the lack of flaming locks and wild curls in the room of Gryffindors.

Through dishearteningly weak silvery wisps, Katherine saw Sirius lose at chess to James three times, and, something that made her wonder about the contents of his letter, all four legs of his chair remained firmly on the floor.

When Katherine finally saw Lily, it was in passing on the way to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Already eaten at the kitchens – need to begin patrols and catch up on homework –" Katherine noted that Lily's lips were pinker than usual, her hair more ruffled than she ever deigned allow it be, and her chest was flushed "After you've eaten, meet me in the library and we'll work on your Patronus, yeah?"

She was gone before Katherine could even open her mouth.

"Sirius, you're awfully quiet." observed James, eyeing his friend from across the table as he chewed.

Katherine blinked, dunked her bread into her tomato soup, and shamelessly eavesdropped on her fellow Gryffindors, glad that someone was going to probe him about the mysterious letter.

"It's nothing." said Sirius, returning to pushing his food around his plate with his fork.

Remus dusted his hands free of crumbs, "Ever since Lunch, now that I think about it."

Sirius took a deep breath in through his nose.

"It's _nothing_." said Sirius sharply, abandoning his food and standing abruptly.

He stalked out of the Great Hall, a black cloud falling over the tables in place of the usual ceiling enchantment.

Remembering Lily's request to meet in the library, Katherine made her own exit from the hall, slipping out unnoticed under the cover of Sirius' dramatics.

The library, Katherine found after searching every aisle and row, was empty apart from a stomach-churning head of blond hair.

"Katherine?" asked Gideon, squinting over the candlelight as he lowered his book.

"I'm just going – curfew's not far off." said Katherine, speeding out and cursing Lily to the moon and back in her head.

Curfew was truly not far off, so she endeavoured to be light on her feet in an attempt at discretion. There were barely any students in the hallways of the upper floors, Katherine becoming easily accustomed to the quiet.

Just as she went to use a passageway on the fourth floor that was concealed by a mirror, a hand gripped her wrist.

Panic flaring in her chest, Katherine found her wand with her other hand, whirling it around on the owner of the hand gripping her wrist. Her breath that had become rapid, calmed at the sight of the person gripping her, Katherine sighing as her wand arm relaxed.

"Please," said Sirius sarcastically, blinking slowly, "Point your wand at me if it helps you relax."

He let go of her wrist and held up both of his hands in defence.

Katherine's stowed away her wand, struck by the first words he had ever spoken directly to her and grappling for composure and words.

"Sorry, I…" Katherine trailed off in apology, "It was just a reflex."

Sirius lowered his own hands, straightening out his robes.

"Don't worry about it," said Sirius with a quick, shoving his hands into his pockets, "I'll let you continue unencumbered by surprises."

He turned to go, but before he could even get a step he had to duck to dodge a flying pumpkin that seemed to appear out of thin air. Sirius whipped past her, out of the way, a strong whiff of soap engulfing Katherine.

Sirius straightened up, looking around with tired amusement.

"Peeves!" called Sirius knowingly, his voice echoing down the cavernous hallway.

The beady-eyed man popped into corporealness.

"Black!" greeted Peeves loudly, laughing from his belly, "Where are your friends? Loony _Loopy_ Lupin?"

The poltergeist did a dizzying loop in the air on 'Loopy'.

Katherine felt Sirius tense in front of her, his wand arm conveniently covering her but betraying his reaction. Glancing at it, the knowledge that it was the one with the angry pink scar running the length of it made Katherine wonder how he got it...

Before she could further dwell on her fellow Quidditch player's skin beneath his robes, Sirius' eyes flickered back to Katherine before returning firmly to Peeves.

"You know that he's in the dorms, Peeves." said Sirius, his amusement waning.

Peeves clicked his see-through feet in his best impression of a ballerina, holding his chest and fluttering his eyelashes.

"Not invited on the romantic _moonlit_ stroll you're taking, huh?" asked Peeves with his usual menacing humour.

Sirius laughed dryly, "About as romantic as your second death."

The poltergeist ceased his ballerina impression.

"I can't die twice, you ninny!" declared Peeves through triumphant laughter.

Sirius began twirling his wand.

"Are you _sure_?" said Sirius with a quirk of his brow, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

Peeves hesitated before popping out of sight as quickly as he had popped into it.

Sirius turned to Katherine, sighing, "He'll keep pestering us the closer it gets to curfew."

"We best head back to the Tower." said Katherine, blinking as she processed the lunacy that had just transpired.

Sirius nodded, both of the fixing their eyes to the ground as they walked back in the general direction of Gryffindor Tower.

As they loped through the hallways, Katherine became conscious of every breath, step, and how strange it was that the opposite arm always swung with the opposite leg – a healthy two feet of distance between them at all times.

She hadn't ever thought that she would walk beside him, and in her surreptitious glances found that he looked different close up.

On the Quidditch Pitch he was a blur of gold, black, and scarlet – undistinguishable from James in almost every way due to their positions as Chasers. In two months on the team, Katherine had learnt to pick out her captain by his deep involvement in the thick of scrambles for the Quaffle, and Sirius by his streaking pace.

Across the Gryffindor table he was hidden by a copy of the Daily Prophet, Katherine better acquainted with his eyebrows than any other part of him.

In class he was a mumble of words from behind, a bark of laughter, or a scrape of a chair.

Walking along the hallway next to her, he was without a broom and billowing scarlet robes.

Walking along the hallway next to her, he was without a copy of the Daily Prophet.

The wall sconces had not been extinguished all day, rain still lashing the windows and the occasional flash of lightning breaking the dark hallways into dozens of pieces.

Between the dark stretches bereft of windows and sconces, he was lit by dancing orange light.

He was more human than Katherine could have ever imagined.

"So, are you going to ask me what's wrong?"

The question came out of nowhere, his voice crisp against the stagnant castle air.

"Everyone else has."

Katherine shook her head, watching her step, "You don't want me to."

Sirius almost tripped on the notorious disappearing step.

"…Thanks." whispered Sirius slowly.

Katherine nodded, gulping before grinning, "Did you see the Wronski Feint that the Hufflepuff Seeker was practicing this afternoon?"

Sirius bit out a laugh, turning to her with a smile.

"I saw the condition he went to hospital wing in," said Sirius, amused, " _Amateur_."

"Says a Chaser."

Sirius turned to her with a defiant grin, "Just because the manoeuvre isn't called for in my position, it doesn't mean that I haven't mastered it."

Katherine laughed, feeling the buzz of nervousness receding from her fingertips, "Hey, I trust you."

Sirius snorted, turning to her once again with a smile and an undiscernible glint in his eye.

"A horrible decision, really."

Katherine smiled to herself, and they continued their climb for a beat of silence.

Katherine couldn't stand letting him ponder her freely and was desperate to distract him.

"So, who do you support in the Professional league?" asked Katherine casually.

"Puddlemere, the Harpies," said Sirius easily, shrugging gracefully, "You know, the usual."

"I'm a rather avid fan of the Holyhead Harpies too." admitted Katherine, pulling her skirt around from where it had shifted.

Sirius turned to her with momentary surprise before an excited grin took over his face.

"My Uncle gets tickets all the time," said Sirius, clearing the jumpiness from his throat and shrugging, and in the blink of an eye he was back to his usual indifferent self, "James prefers to watch England and it would be nice to go with someone who actually wants to watch the Harpies."

The two slowly trudged up the final staircase to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

She met Sirius' eyes, and realised at once that they were grey. But not just grey – they rivalled the most excellently polished suit of armour.

The portrait popped open and James' face appeared around the frame, Katherine watching Sirius' face become a mask of impassiveness.

"Sirius! Lad!" said James cheerily.

James' glasses glinted as he turned his head and his eyes fell on Katherine.

"Oh, and Spencer!" said James, mustering the same amount of enthusiasm for her.

"Yeah, we ran into each other outside the portrait."

Katherine glanced to Sirius at the lie, but at seeing him standing there as comfortably as if it were a truth, she didn't press.

James laughed, opening the portrait wider and waving them in.

"I hope his ego didn't bruise you, love." James told Katherine lightly as she passed through by him.

"I survived," said Katherine with a quick smile.

She turned to look at Sirius.

"See you, Black,"

She turned to James with another smile.

"Potter."

Before she could even pass the first over-stuffed arm chair, she was halted once more for the evening.

"Hang on – Spencer!"

Katherine turned to find James Potter righting his glasses and messing with his rolled up sleeves while considering her.

"Yes?" asked Katherine.

"Have you sorted out a broom for next weekend's match?"

Katherine closed her eyes, unable to bear the disappointed look that would undoubtedly ensue from the Quidditch fanatic.

"Either you've had too much cheese, or that's a _'no'_."

"I'm sorry," said Katherine, opening her eyes and sighing, "I'm not allowed to go to Hogsmeade – and it's too late to mail order one."

James too sighed, "The best Seeker I've seen while at Hogwarts _can't_ play on one of the _school brooms_ …"

"She won't."

James and Katherine both turned to the forgotten third person inside the common room.

Sirius stood with his arms crossed and his weight resting on the back of the couch, none of the humanness Katherine had found under the torchlight present as he eyed her; aloof and intense all at once.

"Are you going to forfeit yours?" asked James, rumpling his hair before graduating to scratching the back of his neck.

It a short, silent moment, Sirius moved his gaze to the fireplace, frowned, and shook his head.

"I need mine to keep up with you and vice versa," said Sirius, looking back to James before nodding at Katherine, "But we do have a way to get her down to Hogsmeade this weekend."

"The Honeydukes passage…"

"There's a secret passage that runs to Hogsmeade?" asked Katherine.

Sirius nodded, his lips curving in what she assumed to be pride, as his excitement from their earlier talk of the Harpies returned.

"Yeah, you tap the hump of the one-eyed-witch –"

"Sirius, mate –" cried James in a strained voice, making a motion across his throat with exasperated eyes – "shut it."

Sirius blinked and raised his eyebrows, "She needs a broom more than we need to keep secrets – besides, I doubt we're the only people who know about that passage."

James frowned at Sirius for a long moment before he turned a thoughtful eye on Katherine.

"Alright,"

James jabbed a finger at Katherine from the other end of the couch with a failing sternness.

"But you have to swear to not dob us in."

Katherine couldn't even allow herself to be amused by how much of a wretch it seemed to be to James to let her in on their secret, her mind racing ahead to the punishments McGonagall had allowed Filch to carry out if someone went down to the village that wasn't authorised to.

"It's too risky anyway," said Katherine, sighing and shaking her head, "If McGonagall catches you helping me down to Hogsmeade you'll get into serious trouble."

James and Sirius exchanged a glance, but Sirius was the first to speak, his eyes finding Katherine with recharged recklessness.

"We don't get caught."

The rich notes of arrogance circled her ear drum.

"Besides," said James, grinning as he paced around the couch and clapped Katherine on the shoulder, "The risk is what makes it fun."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 14: Sweet Passage (Preview) ~*_

" _I can't believe you actually came with us." said James from in front, laughing through his pants._

" _Whatever possessed you to do that should possess you more often,"_

 _Katherine turned with a bashful smile, only to see Sirius' boyish grin in place of his usual haughty indifference. He shook his head, his eyes glinting against his illuminated wand and regarding Katherine with such esteem that she felt overwhelmed with pride despite the unlawfulness of their actions over the day._

" _I have a feeling that we won't ever be bored with you around."_

 _James sprung out of the passage, checking down either end of the hallway, before turning and hurriedly waving Katherine and Sirius out._

 _The One-Eyed-Witch swivelled back into place over the hole, and James leant against it with a grin at Katherine._

" _We're not half bad, right?" asked James._


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Sweet Passage

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **Author's Note:**

 **{Edited on 09/01/2020}**

* * *

"Isn't he just a dreamboat?"

Katherine hummed, her eyes flickering between the one-eyed-witch statue and where the fifth year boys were huddled by the foot of the marble staircase leading to the first floor.

She had received an owl from James on Tuesday detailing that they were to meet after everyone cleared out for Hogsmeade, and was anxiously cataloguing where teachers and prefects were stationed. One prefect, in fact, was fiddling with their newsboy cap and gloves in front of her.

"Not really my type." said Katherine, her eyes straying back to the statue in restrained awe of what she knew it was concealing.

"He's like a clone of Gideon, Katherine."

Katherine observed where Bertram Aubrey and Dedalus Diggle snickered and shoved one another in their circle of friends in the Entrance Hall, smoothing their hair after the roughing around.

Bertram Aubrey was indeed fair-haired, handsome, well-liked, and tall. Katherine, though, thought that the sixth year Ravenclaw boy had none of Gideon's sophistication.

"Different demeanours."

Lily's already particularly violent shade of red hair was exacerbated by the wall torch the girls were warming themselves by, and glinted as the prefect tilted her head in consideration.

"Gideon _is_ a bit more studious…"

"You could always have a crack at him," said Katherine wryly, seeing a tawny head of hair bob across her vision, "But – look, here comes your date."

Lily turned, gave a little jump of surprise, and turned back; eyes glittering.

"Are you sure you'll be alright here on your own?" asked Lily, anxiety leeching into her edge of her frown, "I'll cancel on Bertram right now if you change your mind."

"I'll be okay, Lily," said Katherine, nodding with a smile, "Go – have _fun_ ,"

Lily rolled her lips, glancing between an approaching Bertram and Katherine.

Katherine knew what she had to say.

"I'm catching up with Giles for a lesson," lied Katherine, before trying for truth even she believed, "There's nowhere safer."

Giles was remaining at the castle, that much Katherine knew, his name absent from the list of patrolling prefects and professors.

"Oh, I feel a bit better knowing that…" said Lily, her frown crumbling into a smile as she turned to meet a grinning Bertram who was being slapped vigorously on the back by Diggle and Wood, "Well, I'll bring you back some carrot cake from the bakery – I remember from last time that it's your favourite."

"You're a saint, Lily Evans." called Katherine after her friend.

Katherine smiled and waved, genuinely glad that she no longer had to lie.

"You're good at that,"

Katherine's chest spasmed, and her ankles all but twisted.

She whipped around to find herself pinned beneath an unflinching gaze; deep and catastrophic. _No_ , decided Katherine, _his eyes were, indeed, not simply grey._

"Lying." said Sirius in clarification, a flicker passing behind his lead-hued observation.

It was ironic that her stomach turned to that very metal – heavy and poisonous.

"I'm not proud of it." said Katherine, tearing away to look after her vanished friends.

"There you go again."

"Alright, in through here – quick." said James, tapping the hump and murmuring ' _Dissendium_ ' under his breath.

Katherine hadn't seen nor heard James approach and was startled into the passage, James and Sirius yanking the door closed behind them and bringing a shower of crumbled stone down upon the three of them.

Sirius tapped James' arm that was shoving a piece of parchment into his pocket "Just keep it out, mate."

"Merlin, what do you want me to give her next?" said James, shrugging some stone from his shoulders with an incredulous smile at Sirius, "My cloak?"

"Oh – no, thank you, I'm not cold." said Katherine, looking around the tunnel; similar to the ones she had already travelled within the castle.

James and Sirius shared a glance; Sirius' eyebrows pulsing before he nodded ahead, and James sighed, smiled, and led the way through the tunnel.

"The shopkeeper of Quality Quidditch Supplies is Jimmy Twills," said James over his shoulder, his wand lighting the gradually constricting rings of the stone passage, "He's an ex-England player and likes to waffle on a bit – so let us head him off first so he knows not to keep you and risk you getting caught."

Katherine nodded, and couldn't help but note the distinct lack of a fluffy head of sandy hair and a pudgy boy scurrying at their heels.

"Where are Remus and Peter?" asked Katherine, throwing a glance over her shoulder at Sirius before looking back ahead to James' shoulders; leaving the question open to both of them, "I thought you four were a group package…"

Katherine felt a shift in her hair, too firm to have been from any breeze the tunnel might possess, and – fearing that it was a spider – she whipped around and raised a hand to her hair, only to find another hand there, and Sirius' curving lips and patronizing head tilt.

"Bit of stone," said Sirius, showing the flake to Katherine before flicking it away, "Remus is patrolling the town this weekend – Peter's keeping him company."

"What have you done to Peter, by the way?"

Katherine turned back to see James' glasses against the light from his wand, his pupils flicking to corners of his eyes and back to the passage again.

" _He raves about you every other minute._ "

Katherine frowned, "He didn't tell you about being cornered by Slytherins after Moody's visit?"

James' step faltered, as if to slow, but then he kept on, his frown turning away from Katherine as his shoulders widened.

"Not a thing."

James' voice was primmer than Katherine had ever heard.

"I just…stepped in, is all." said Katherine, shrugging and wishing the subject away.

Sirius might have had a direct line to her thoughts.

"So what are we going to do once we're finished?"

James shrugged, but it was tense, "We could stop by the Three Broomsticks – see Rosmerta…"

"Hmmm," hummed Sirius, "And why would you willingly want to subject yourself to Rosmerta's tongue lashing for annoying her?"

James' cheeks lifted, dark blue against the glow of his wand.

"Could it have anything to do with the fact that Evans might be there with Aubrey?"

James slowed by a ladder, turning back; his smile replaced by an expression of incredulity as he cleaned his glasses with the hem of his jumper.

"He's a sixth year – what do they have in common?"

Sirius snorted, "You put your glasses on and face the facts, James –"

James held up a hand, and his head fell back as he eyed the ceiling of the passage, "Shh! Someone's in the cellar…"

Sirius stepped around Katherine to stand shoulder to shoulder with James, joining in his inspection of the noise and squinting as powdered stone rained down on their faces.

Thinking quickly, Katherine disillusioned herself.

The noise passed, and James turned back with unfocused eyes gleaming with alarm, and Katherine cringed as she forgot to explain herself.

"Hang on, where'd she go?" whispered James, looking right past Katherine's shoulder, "Katherine?"

Katherine reached out a hand to lower James' wand that almost poked her in the eye.

"Disillusionment charm." whispered Katherine.

James grinned, reaching out and nearly sticking a finger up her nose in his blindness, "Excellent, I can't see you at all."

Sirius frowned, shining his own wand on what Katherine was sure that, to them, was a shimmery film over the stone walls of the passage.

"That might be a problem – we don't want to lose her if we're in a crowd." said Sirius.

"I'll hold on to your jacket or something." said Katherine, thinking.

James scoffed, "Sirius is wearing his favourite jacket – best not, he'll be in a right state if it's marked or stretched."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, blinking his moon-shaded eyes, "It's rather expensive."

His aristocratic lilt was jarring to Katherine's ears and a blanket of familiarity at the same time.

"It's muggle – it can't be that expensive." said James distractedly, testing the dusty rungs of the ladder, and wiping them with the inside of his travelling robe.

"Anything that makes the vein in my mother's forehead twitch is priceless." said Sirius, his amused gaze on some far off vision and his lips twitching in a suggestion of pleasure.

"Just stick close, yeah?" said James with a sound of effort at pushing up a cut out of stone, his eyes on Katherine's stomach.

Sirius' veiny hand sped across Katherine's face, her having to lean back to avoid getting hit, and it halted James where his white-dusted jet-black hair bobbed above their passage.

"She should go up first – tell us if the coast is clear…" said Sirius, his eyes finding Katherine without the difficulty James seem to have.

Katherine gently moved past, James jumping as she put a hand on his shoulder to move him away from the ladder.

Katherine continued up the ladder and crawled onto the stone floor of what seemed to be a cellar; stock-piled pastel boxes with _'Sugar Quills'_ , _'Pumpkin Pasties'_ , and _'Liquorice Wands'_ being the noticeably most carried items.

Only once she was sure of the fact she was the only person in the room, did she duck her head back over the new hole in the floor.

"It's clear."

James was next, hunching out widely like a spider, before bending at the hips and rifling through his already messy hair to shake the stone from it onto the floor.

Sirius' alabaster hands promptly appeared on the rim of the stone, his forearms next; clad in plum velvet that pulled away from his wrists to reveal more veins than usual. The knees of his pin-striped slacks found the edge of the passage opening and he rolled to his feet in one fluid motion. Turning, he raked a sole hand through his consummately neat locks and used the other to lift the heavy stone round back into place with a hollow _THUNK_.

James made a hand gesture that indicated for Katherine and Sirius to follow, and they maintained their line of order from the tunnel as they inched up a heart-stopping rickety wooden staircase, having to pause and listen to hear if anyone was going to check on each noise they made on the incline.

The longest pause was at the door to the main shop floor of Honeydukes, shrieks of delight and laughter leaking down into the cellar as James watched for a moment when they could slip out unnoticed.

And when they did, Katherine's eyes clung to images of sweets of mini-carousels, eclectically coloured shelves, and edible clouds their fellow students were chomping out the air, even when she was shunted from behind into the numbing, wet snow.

"Welcome to Hogsmeade, Spencer." said James, leaning by her shoulder in what she assumed to be his miscalculation to find her ear.

Regardless, Katherine heard him fine, but still couldn't find it in herself to respond.

The cream cottages, lined up neatly like gingerbread houses, could have been iced with sugar – not the snow Katherine knew it to be. Fires and laughter were locked away beyond frosted window panes, each bricked sanctuary shining with a different slice of life. The trees sheltering the town were wild and wet from the pale day and still smelling of a crisp winter night, and, twirling around, the blurred visions dazzled and dizzied Katherine.

"It's gorgeous…" whispered Katherine, her chest blooming to breathe in the sheer variety of beauty.

"Sirius, you're about to trip." said James, stepping across Katherine and blazing a path through the wet ground fall.

The words pitched Katherine back into the damp and harsh reality of their shadowed refuge under an eave.

"Never," said Sirius, loping ahead, "Come on – let's get her undercover before any prefects or professors catch her."

"I thought that the risk made it fun?" asked Katherine, jogging after the two long-legged boys.

" _Calculated_ risk." said James, tucking his hands into his pockets and winging his elbow in a gesture for Katherine to hold it.

"Potter – Black – what are you doing down here?"

The chill down Katherine's spine increased tenfold.

Ahead of the trio, squinting over the snow glare, was Giles; Katherine's unknowing alibi, and the one to have taught her the means of going undetected that she had wielded full advantage of.

"Er, exploring?" said James, his arm tensing beneath Katherine's hand.

Katherine thought she caught Giles' eyes lingering on James' elbow where it seemed nothing was pulling the material taut, and stilled.

Giles frowned, looked to Sirius and then back to James, and Katherine breathed again.

"Well, explore closer to the inbounds areas of the town," said Giles, turning and eyeing them sideways as his feet freed themselves from the ankle-deep snow, "Wouldn't want anyone thinking you were up to something."

After Giles strode into the powdery snow, the three Gryffindors dashed through the sticking snow, stumbling and laughing all the way to the stoop of 'Quality Quidditch Supplies'. Pausing at the door to first look in through the window, Katherine lifted her disillusionment charm.

James barged unceremoniously through the belled door that Sirius caught, stepped beside, and held open with his usual carelessly handsome demeanour.

Katherine had forgotten such chivalry existed in her time at Hogwarts, often surrounded by teenagers of all backgrounds, and felt inexplicably comforted by Sirius' similarity to what she had been raised around.

She bowed her head before rushing through as composedly as possible, looking around for James with a grin, "That was close, I was almost caught –"

The chest she met was familiar, it having absorbed her impact once before, and Katherine's eyes caught the equally familiar gold hair above it, sectioned away by a strong neck and a handsome face.

"Almost?" asked Gideon, gazing down upon Katherine with combined amusement and dutifulness.

"Let her off, Gid," said Fabian, hooking a hand around his twin's elbow with a grin, "She's here on official Quidditch business."

"As her Captain I ordered her to get a broom, so I'll happily polish the cabinets in the trophy room in punishment as long as we crush Hufflepuff." said James, stepping up beside Katherine and crossing his arms.

"As her Captain, you could have come and bought it on her behalf." said Fabian, mirroring James and crossing his arms.

James frowned and his eyes focused on the ground, his arms falling back to his sides, "Oh, yeah… I guess I could have…"

"I needed to get robes for Slughorn's Christmas party too." said Katherine, hoping to get the point across that James' Quidditch fantasies weren't her sole reason for breaking the rules.

"You're on your own there, love," said James, his eyes casting out of the shop window and across the street to a mannequin fronted store, "The last time I went into Gladrags, Gwendolyn snitched to my mum about me not using sleekezy's anymore."

"Or basic dress sense." said Sirius, stopping on Katherine's other side after having perused the shelves.

James grinned, looking around Katherine at his friend, " _Oi_."

"Hello, boys, back again to steal England's old training programs?"

Jimmy Twills had a boyish grin on his lined face that bled into wind-influenced streaks of chrome through his raven hair. He was decked out in muggle track pants and a zip-top with a whistle around his neck, goggles on top of his head, and a zip-bag tied around his hips.

"We're not in to listen to a retired man's yarns today, Jimmy," said James, resting a hand on Katherine's shoulder, "Spencer's in need of a broom."

"Rest my soul… _Spencer?_ " breathed Jimmy, inclining his head and blinking solemnly at Katherine, "You're William Spencer's daughter?"

"Er, yes," said Katherine, uneasily, holding out a hand despite her trepidation, "Katherine."

"Pleasure to meet you…pleasure to meet you," said Jimmy, shaking Katherine's hand with both of his own and boring into her eyes with his peculiarly purple ones, "Your dad used to bring you along to games when he first started on the team – you used to make all the brooms fly out of the cupboards and clobber into your hand – even as a tike."

"My dad played for England?" asked Katherine, her skin buzzing and her eyes stinging in the combination of excitement and grief that she always felt at the mention of her parents.

"Don't tell me that you _didn't know?_ "

When Katherine just blinked back at him, Jimmy reached out a hand to rest on the glass cabinet below the register, his eyes bulging.

"That's a crime!" cried Jimmy, jabbing his index finger at the boys either side of her, "Your old dad would even give Black and Potter a run for their money…"

Jimmy sighed, shaking his head and fixing his eyes on a stain of polish in the carpet.

"It's such a shame he…er…" Jimmy trailed off, caught Katherine's eye, and cleared his throat – clapping his hands together with a renewed grin, "Well – a broom, hey?"

Jimmy paced to a wall back-lit to catch the polish on the brooms for the ultimate appeal, waving an arm.

"Take your pick – I'll even give you mate's rates, for old time's sake."

"I saw the new Nimbus in the catalogue, do you have one in?" asked Katherine, stepping across the floor and trailing over the varying lengths, tail twigs, and shapes.

"A woman with taste – this way… this way…"

Katherine followed Jimmy to a glass cabinet in the middle of the store, shelves arranged in a pentagon around it.

"The 1700 has an added goblin-wrought-iron T-bar for stability…lovingly crafted bottleneck tail twigs…unbreakable braking charm…cushioning charm…" Jimmy clapped his hands, blinked appreciatively at the gleaming handle, "The works."

Her satchel of galleons seemed to begin burning in her pocket.

"I'll take it."

Jimmy flicked his wand at the case, a series of locks and latches non-verbally falling apart, and the broom followed them to the register.

"Let's see…with your dad's old discount…that'll be one hundred and twenty-five galleons." said Jimmy, wrapping the broom affectionately.

"That's thirty-five galleons off!" said Fabian, appearing beside Katherine and watching reverently as Jimmy wrapped layer after layer of wrapping tissue around the broom.

"That's William there…" said Jimmy, not hearing Fabian, and pointing at a framed photograph by a rack of binoculars.

Katherine had seen the photograph of her parents that graced the Daily Prophet after their murders, but was startled as Jimmy's photograph included colour.

The colour revealed that Katherine shared her father's hair down to the wispy hair at the very front which never picked a side of the part, and that his eyes were blue like faded denim and glittered up at her atop his dimpled grin. In the moving photograph he had laughed at something a younger Jimmy had said, and Katherine wished she could hear the sound – hear _him_.

"What's so important about nineteen sixty?" asked James, jarring Katherine from her reverie.

"It was the last photograph of the team before the league was disbanded…" said Jimmy, frowning and tying a ribbon around the mass of wrapping.

"The whole league was disbanded?"

"You were probably too young to remember," said Gideon from behind, "That was the year the attack on St Mungo's happened."

 _And the year that the prophecy was made_ , Katherine mused privately, _and also the year everyone knew – without a doubt – that there was a new dark wizard to reign terror._

"Dark times…dark times…" said Jimmy, shaking his head.

Katherine wondered how many people had come through the shop and seen her father, and – fighting the urge to take the photograph and study it ruthlessly until she could map out her father's every feature and movement – pulled out her sack of galleons to rest beside the photograph. Galleons her father had undoubtedly once deposited in their vault.

"One hundred and twenty-five galleons."

It was oddly fitting to be spending it in front of him, for a broom to walk in his footsteps of playing Quidditch.

Fabian whistled lowly, "The best broom on the market – if you don't win the Quidditch cup, you'll be a right disgrace of a Captain."

Katherine accepted her change, put her significantly lighter satchel in her pocket, and read the animosity between the two Gryffindor players.

James sighed and turned to face the seventh years behind the trio.

"How about I buy us all a round of Butterbeers and we can put this Captain business behind us?" suggested James, patting Katherine on the back and grinning, "The Chosen One's our Seeker for Merlin's sake – that's enough to celebrate!"

"Potter's Captain?" Jimmy frowned, blinking and shaking his head as he shuffled to the emptied cabinet in the centre of the store, " _I thought it would have been Black…_ "

"You guys go ahead and get a table," said Sirius, putting a hand inside his velvet jacket and leaning on the counter leisurely, "I've got to look at new goggles."

" _Only to moan about how they mess up your hair…_ " said James as he tugged on Katherine's elbow.

Katherine glanced back, feeling as if she were leaving her father behind in the act of leaving the photograph. Just as the edge of the window bled into brick, Katherine could only catch the sight of Jimmy and Sirius conversing over the glass cabinet, the photograph well and truly out of sight – but not out of mind.

"You should do more overarm throws."

Fabian's advice to James reminded Katherine to hasten, lest be left in the soggy wake of the long-legged boys whilst longing over the photograph she had left in _Quality Quidditch Supplies._

James shook his head, reaching down as he strode to scoop up some snow, "You lose control and height with overarm throws, whereas underarm throws –"

Katherine's broom slipped from beneath her arm as her hands instinctively shot to the side of her head, finding numbing ice melting into her hair.

"What was that about control?" asked Fabian, his lips fighting their lifting corners.

James face dropped like a stone as he bent over to pick up Katherine's broom, Fabian and Gideon swaying – hands-in-pockets and clearing their throats – behind.

"Oh, Spencer – I'm so sorry!"

Katherine also bent over, but bypassed the brown wrappings that protected her broom and, instead, opted for a fistful of snow. Hesitation reared its head, but, with a bashful smile, she deposited it down the back of James' collar.

"And equal." said Katherine, with wavering playfulness that gave way to guilt as she watched James to ascertain which one she stuck with.

James' hands stilled over Katherine's broom, his shoulders going rigid. Katherine watched the snow slide out of vision and a smile slide onto James' face.

"You're playing with the big boys now, Spencer!" proclaimed James, retaliating in kind with a handful of snow to the top of Katherine's head.

Relief and snow trickled down Katherine's spine, the four teenagers breaking into an unlearned dance of snow-warfare; laughing as they attacked and retreated.

Katherine had never engaged in a snowball fight before. From a distance they had always seemed painful and cold. In the midst of burning breaths and tickles of ice, Katherine found that the only painful thing was her too-large grin.

Fabian dunked impulsively mashed together piles on top of James' hair when James wasn't sending bruising, well-packed missives back; hitting Fabian in the shoulder, stomach, and side with a crisp _CRUNCH_ each time.

Gideon's golden head loomed closer and closer as Katherine hurriedly dropped down to scoop up what was left of the snow around the city's square, an arsenal of snowy orbs circling his right shoulder at the bequest of his wand. It was in rising up off her burning haunches to face a chilly defeat that Katherine spied a familiar plum jacket by a snow-heavy tree that snaked around the back of the town's statue.

Gideon's square shoulder blurred, Sirius' inky waves stark against the powdered township. His haughtiness leeched across the distance, so much so that when he blinked, Katherine thought she felt a cool breeze. The unflinching alabaster stopped her from noticing that his arms had uncrossed and one had quietly and smoothly pulled on a springy branch of pine.

The branch shivered beneath Sirius' hand, and promptly released it's takings of snow onto Gideon – encasing him as a real-life snowman.

Fabian and James howled with laughter; Fabian leaping across the square to admire and aid his brother all the same, and James crossing to Sirius to clap him on the back.

"Brilliant, mate," said James, the boys both watching on as Fabian spelled his twin free, "Head Boy and everything…"

Sirius smile was almost imperceptive as he jiggled something into his jacket pocket with haste.

"Remus and Peter gave me the heads up that _Katherine Spencer_ –" Sirius' lash-fringed stare of steel needled into Katherine's composure – "was _visible_ as they passed the town square, and no less engaging in a snowball fight."

Katherine had indeed forgotten her disillusionment charm, she realised with a sick feeling of surprise, and promptly retrieved her wand from her jacket pocket to tap the top of her head.

As she endured the sensation of invisibility trickling down over her, she watched as their group reorganised themselves to start off in the direction of The Three Broomsticks; Gideon and Fabian taking the lead whilst James and Sirius lagged in wait of what appeared to be nothing to an outside observer.

James whistled, looking around in an inconspicuous manner before grinning and waving at Alice and Frank as they passed.

Katherine was startled, however, by Sirius' elbow skimming her own, and looked down to see him holding out the tail of his plum velvet jacket – _to hold_ , she realised in a hurried confusion, having to act before they were left too far behind by James and the Prewett twins.

"How did you know I was there?" asked Katherine, taking a hold of the impossibly soft velvet – sure that she was holding onto a cloud.

Sirius shrugged, tucking his hands in his pockets, "I can smell your perfume."

"I'm not wearing any." said Katherine, hastening beside him.

She caught his frown and quick flick of his eyes, "Not jasmine?"

"That's my shampoo… you must have a really good sense of smell." said Katherine slowly, making a note to use less that evening.

"You should see him find all of our sweets in the dorm," muttered James over his shoulder, shrugging his collar closer the back of his neck and swaggering onwards, " _Bloody sniffer dog…_ "

The disparity in Katherine and Sirius' stride lengths made Katherine pull his jacket a bit too far away from his side for a gust and wind, and she had to avoid tripping before breaking into a jog to catch up. Righting his jacket, Katherine saw a glossy edge peek out of the pocket, but it vanished into the recesses of his velvet pocket before any more was revealed.

"Rosmerta!" cried James, opening his arms and crossing from the door to the bar of the Three Broomsticks with a jolly grin.

Gideon continued on, eyes searching for a table, while Katherine tried to communicate non-verbally to Sirius that she planned on following the Head Boy.

"Potter!" greeted Rosmerta, screwing a tea towel out of a glass as her eyes found the boy whose plum jacket Katherine had abandoned, "Black!"

Sirius nodded and grinned with careless handsomeness, surprising Katherine by waving to Rosmerta but catching on to the back of _her_ invisible jacket as she shuffled around the bar to find a break in the tables large enough to pass through.

"I almost go out of business when you two leave for the summer," Katherine heard Rosmerta laugh, "You're usual seats at the bar?"

"Entertaining the Head Boy, actually," James' voice carried, "So we'll be on our best behaviour in a nice out-of-the-way booth in the back."

"Behave yourselves?" cackled Rosmerta, slapping the bar top, "Like you would know _how_."

"Five Butterbeers, please, 'Merta." said James, bowing his head and resting his forearms on the bar patiently.

Katherine lifted the disillusionment charm once seated on one of the hardback wooden chairs by the back windows, hidden from view by a rickety staircase.

"I'm just going to duck off to the bathroom…" said Sirius, standing and wiping his hands down the thighs of his slacks before weaving off through the tables.

"So, you said you had to get robes after this?"

Katherine turned from Sirius' retreating shiny jacket, remembering her company.

Gideon's golden halo of hair gleamed under the snow glare streaming in through the window – _and he was looking at her_ , she realised with giddy light-headedness. He had his endearingly uneven teeth in the small, sweet cherry liquor that was her heart; the soft centre oozing through her chest.

"Yeah," said Katherine, gulping as delicately as she could manage, "For Slughorn's party…"

" _Ah_ , I see," said Gideon slowly, half-liddedly; smiling and throwing a glance back to the bar, "You and Potter going together?"

"Actually," Katherine steeled herself, attempting casualness all the same, "I was going to ask you."

Gideon's honeyed gaze turned to hard resin as it flickered over Katherine's shoulder and back to her, his bow-shaped lips dropped open – already forming his response.

"Oh."

Katherine had never thought that a single syllable could sting like a hard slap across the face until that moment.

The backhand was swift and unmerciful with the clearing of a throat, Sirius slotting into the cramped space between the table and chairs to the seat next to Katherine; his table-bound-gaze giving away his over-hearing.

A burning sensation coursed through Katherine's veins.

"I'm flattered, Katherine – _truly_ ,"

Gideon's words did nothing to assuage the sink hole that had opened up in her stomach; her heart through the floor – through the earth's very crust – and swimming with the penguins at the South Pole.

"But I'm not attending the Christmas party this year."

It was Katherine's turn to use the ever-underwhelming single syllable.

"Oh."

It was a small justice that Gideon squirmed behind his eyes just as much as she outwardly did, the thick silence only sliced by the slapping down of tankards and James' cheery grin.

"Here's to there being no mutiny on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!" declared James, taking the seat beside Gideon against the window side of the table.

Fabian slid along the table and contorted his long body into the small space available in the chair on Katherine's left, suckling on his Butterbeer as if in reward for the feat without pausing for breath for a solid minute afterwards.

Both Fabian and James were blissfully unaware of the crushing rejection Katherine had taken just moments before, and it seemed to Katherine that Sirius wished to reignite the normality of the table with their help.

"How's Aunt Lucretia these days?" asked Sirius, turning to regard Fabian and Gideon lightly.

Squashed chair to chair and unable to scoot back without hitting another table, Sirius' arm slipped along the back of Katherine's chair as he manoeuvred himself – long, spread out legs and all – to manage the feat of being able to merely pay attention to their response.

"Fussing over her two impossibly ginger grandsons," said Fabian, letting out a laugh-lilted breath and lifting his tankard as if to sip before clunking it back down with a look of light exasperation, "Molly wants to name the one on the way Percy, and I think I might lose my top if she does."

"You three are related?" asked Katherine, having thought them polar opposites in appearance and demeanours.

Fabian gave a tired nod, "Sirius' dad is our mum's older brother."

Katherine used Fabian as a basis for her comparison, Gideon's mere direction being too gut-wrenching to even glance in, and found similarities in their oval faces, their bow-shaped lips, and their lithe builds despite Sirius still undergoing the transition into manhood.

"I'm still surprised she hasn't gotten Aunt Lucretia blasted off the tapestry for breaking her betrothal with Malfoy to elope with Weasley…" muttered Sirius, Katherine hearing his words and receiving his butterscotch breath to the side of her neck courtesy of his earlier manoeuvring.

"Malfoy moved on, obviously," said James, his eyes on something past all of their heads, "What's a nice way to tell Bertram Aubrey that I want to smack him over the head with a chair?"

Sirius dipped his index finger into the foam of Butterbeer and lifted it to his lips with an amused blink at his friend, "When Rosmerta laid down the ground rules _'no bar brawls'_ pretty much topped the list."

"He'll be seventeen in February – he's a predator – right?" asked James, glancing around, "Right?"

"Some girls like older boys." drawled Sirius, glancing around a tapping the glass handle of his tankard.

James slouched into his collar and lifted his tankard to his lips, "Lucky you – you're already sixteen."

At the three confused glances shot his way, Sirius said, "My birthday's the third of November."

"Who's next?" asked James, sitting up and counting on his fingers, "I'm on the twenty seventh of March…"

"I'm on the sixteenth of February." said Katherine, looking down into her butterscotch swirled beverage she nursed in both hands but couldn't completely close them around.

"Right after Valentine's day – you'll get chocolates _and_ presents, lucky duck." said Fabian, stringing an arm along the back of her chair with a grin.

Katherine kept it to herself that she wasn't expecting any chocolates, especially not after Gideon's rejection that his twin wasn't privy to.

Fabian and Sirius exchanged confused glances as their arms both met on the back of Katherine's chair, both promptly pulling their arms back into their own space; Fabian sipping from his tankard, and Sirius sitting back into the wooden chair and crossing his ankle over the opposite knee as he listened to James' aloud wonderings.

"Lily's the thirtieth of January – I remember now –"

Fabian's grin, so like Gideon's, left an ill, numbing sensation in Katherine's neck much like the one caused by stubbing one's toes – so she stood, hips squashing into the edge of the table, James cutting himself off.

"Where are you going, Katherine?" asked James, paused mid-gesticulation.

Katherine smiled tightly, avoiding Gideon's eyes watching her just centimetres to the right of James' "Bathroom."

Sirius stood, moving his chair back and negotiating quietly with the table behind them to do the same, creating a small channel between the tables for Katherine to pass through.

Murmuring apologies to all inconvenienced by her exit, Katherine shuffled around the remaining sea of tables to the bathroom sign and flew into a stall.

Katherine really had to stop herself before she made a habit of crying with her knickers around her ankles, but Saturday wasn't the day to do so. Knowing she had to go back – to return through the Honeydukes passage with James and Sirius – Katherine sighed, righted her clothes and left the stall to wash her hands and eye herself in the mirror.

"I wonder which Professor is closest –"

Two stalls, either side of Katherine's vacated one, opened, and Flint and Greengrass strolled out.

"McGonagall or Slughorn?" pondered Greengrass, looking to the ceiling in feigned contemplation.

Katherine realised a few fundamental issues in their discovery of her at the exact same time, only able to go pale in her mirrored reflection.

"They'll be so disappointed in you… their favourite student…" said Flint, tilting her head and pouting in taunt.

"You better start running now," said Greengrass, checking her fog watch, "I know for a fact that McGonagall's only across the square in Maestro's Music Shop..."

Katherine knew that she gave herself away when she glanced at the door to the pub and then back to the Slytherin girls; gauging the distance to discern who would reach it first. _Them_ – if they were evenly matched. The glint in Flint's eyes told Katherine that she hadn't forgotten being stunned by Katherine, and it gave Katherine's vestiges of athleticism an extra boost as she launched for the door and untangled her wand from her jacket pocket.

Katherine discovered that Greengrass' elbow was as pointed as her features, she and Katherine wedged between the door frame. Flint shoved hard against Katherine's ribs from behind to dislodge them. The three girls burst free with a flash of pink and blue light from their wands; the stunner and engorgement charm ricocheting off the glass chandelier in the centre of the pub's ceiling.

Yells erupted, patrons jumped to their feet – a few even going as far to apparate on the spot. Those who had stayed, upon recognising that it were a bunch of school girls firing off spells, ducked in their seats and continued to sip their beverages while keeping an eye out for any more stray flashes of light.

Greengrass panted, levelling her wand at Katherine, but Flint had slipped on spilt Butterbeer from an abandoned tankard and nudged her arm. Her own stinging hex rebounded off of the mirror beside Katherine and gripped her own face in angry red welts.

"Should we do something?"

Katherine glanced back at her table to find Sirius blinking slowly and arrogantly at where Greengrass was flapping her hands around her bubbling face.

"You mean besides laugh?"

"Greengrass!" Gideon's voice was unmistakable, even at the sternum rattling volume Katherine had never heard before, "I will need to report you to your Head of House immediately – use of magic in Hogsmeade, as you well know, is _forbidden_."

As Fabian skulled what was left of his drink, Gideon tugging him away from the table and over to the scene, James and Sirius weaved between the tables to stand by Katherine; sparing glances to the mirror – Katherine's saving grace. But she didn't doubt that, between them, James and Sirius could reverse anything Greengrass could hex her with before it compromised her alibi.

"Is that why girls never go to the bathroom alone?" breathed James, revering the mirror.

Katherine righted her suede jacket lapels, them having stuck up in the commotion, "They were going to snitch on me to McGonagall."

"But Gideon –" Katherine's shoulders twitched at James' drop of the Head Boy's name and her eyes blinked involuntarily "– has Greengrass already."

Sirius' grasp was gentler than Katherine expected, but panicked, as his hand closed around her wrist and tugged, "But Flint's slipping out the front door – come on."

Ursula Flint, Katherine saw, was indeed trying to open the door without triggering the bell but, seeing the three Gryffindors on her tail, threw caution to the wind and her body into the near-blizzard conditions.

"Let the girl disillusion herself!" yelled James as Sirius pulled Katherine along ahead, "Rushing back will be no use if someone sees her while we're still _here_!"

Katherine cursed herself for forgetting once again and only managed the security measure seconds before they passed the Hog's Head.

The three burst through the door to Honeydukes, bringing with them confetti-like-snow. Their icy panic was juxtaposed to the warm shop, filled with giggling. The boys cleared their throats, both awkwardly manoeuvring around Katherine's invisible form.

Sirius took a break in foot traffic and attention to duck down the stairs and lead the way into the cellar, Katherine and James behind him. He shifted the hole cover off with grunt of effort and jumped down the hole into the passage below, forfeiting the ladder, and landing with a _CRUNCH_ in the dirt beneath his shoes.

"Take the disillusionment charm off in case you don't have time once we get to the other end…" said James, not bothering to try and figure out where her face was, and following Sirius down into the hole.

Heeding James' suggestion, Katherine tapped her head with a murmured ' _finite_ ' and then used the ladder despite their rush. She only made it three rungs down when hands closed around her hipbones and pulled her from the ladder and onto the ground, her stomach swirling up and away from her.

James stepped onto the bottom rung and pulled the round stone back over the opening overhead, Sirius' wand already lit and saving them from a moment of blindness so that the three could begin their careen along the tunnel in the same order they used earlier that day.

When the tunnel began another incline, undoubtedly up the foundations of the castle, there was a break in the three's hot jagged breaths.

"I can't believe you actually came with us." said James from in front, laughing through his pants.

"Whatever possessed you to do that should possess you more often,"

Katherine turned with a bashful smile, only to see Sirius' boyish grin in place of his usual haughty indifference. He shook his head, his eyes glinting against his illuminated wand and regarding Katherine with such esteem that she felt overwhelmed with pride despite the unlawfulness of their actions over the day.

"I have a feeling that we won't ever be bored with you around –"

Katherine piled against James' cloaked back in a sudden stop, and turned to find that they had reached the castle end of the passage.

James sprung out, checking down either end of the hallway, before turning and hurriedly waving Katherine and Sirius out.

The One-Eyed-Witch swivelled back into place over the hole, and James leant against it with a grin at Katherine.

"We're not half bad, right?" asked James.

Katherine laughed, raising her eyebrows as her eyes fell to her boots, "Perfectly well-behaved if you don't count the rules we had to break," she paused, looking between the two and pinking, "I don't know how to even begin to thank the two of you…"

"Just win us the match, love," said James, with a hearty clap on the shoulder, "And tell Evans how I –"

"There she is!"

"Yes, I _can_ see that, Miss Flint."

James and Sirius gave nothing away as they stared at the stretch of hallway behind Katherine – _an admirable feat_ , Katherine decided, considering the mass of tartan and sternness barrelling down the hallway with Flint in tow that she discovered upon turning around.

Katherine suddenly felt covered with the day's misgivings, hoping the snow had melted from her hair, lest it become a billboard for her certain guilt.

"Miss Flint tells me that you have just been down in Hogsmeade, Spencer," said McGonagall, breathlessly, as she came to a stop, "I, personally, would have thought your lack of permission slip would keep you from the Three Broomsticks' bathroom where she claims to have encountered you – would you care to shed some light on the situation?"

Hot shame filled Katherine's throat as she blinked back at her Transfiguration Professor, and James' arm slung around her shoulder in a way Katherine had seen him do to Sirius countless times. She was unprepared for the warmth and muscle in the gesture.

James went to open his mouth in what Katherine was sure to be an incriminating defence, when Sirius beat him to it.

"I would just like to say that we rushed back to tell Spencer the story of how Greengrass hexed herself in the Three Broomsticks – and that Flint is spreading a rumour to salve her friend's ego."

Flint, James, Katherine, and McGonagall all looked to Sirius in equal parts of surprise.

"You would, would you?" blinked McGonagall.

James' hand squeezed Katherine's arm, joining Sirius in a tandem act of lying, "And we found Katherine here, where we're sure she was all day as we didn't see her at all down in Hogsmeade."

Katherine almost wished she hadn't gone, her encounter with Gideon having next to near no chance of happening had she stayed in the castle.

Flint gaped openly at McGonagall's deliberating expression.

"Well of course they're lying!" shrieked Flint, "How did she get the broomstick, then?"

Katherine clutched her broomstick tighter under the sudden scrutiny upon it, heavy with its expense.

McGonagall frowned behind her spectacles, "Yes, Spencer, how did you get your broomstick if you remained, rightfully, in the castle?"

"James got it for me," said Katherine, only in a half-lie as James was indeed the reason she'd been able to acquire it, "I gave him my gold and he's only just brought it back."

Flint scoffed, "That's a Nimbus – why would she trust him with so many galleons?"

Sirius said _"I'd trust him with my life_ " at the same time Katherine said _"He's my captain"_.

"I get more in my monthly pocket money, Flint," said James, blinking and dropping his arm from around Katherine's shoulders, "Do you not?"

 _If she were a dog_ , thought Katherine, _Flint's hackles would have raised_.

"They're all in each other's pockets – _disgraceful blood traitors and –_ "

"I suggest you refrain from finishing, Miss Flint," McGonagall's voice was bordering on shrill, "I have made a decision that, perhaps, Mister Black's guess has some merit after all."

Flint widened her eyes and gave an exasperated arm raise before turning tail and muttering, " _Should have gone to Slughorn…_ "

Before McGonagall could also vanish, Sirius stepped forward with a sideways glance at James and Katherine.

"Professor McGonagall?"

McGonagall turned and sighed, ever-patient, "Yes, Black?"

"I need to change my arrangements for Christmas," said Sirius, his brow creasing faintly as he pointedly ignored James' stare, "I'll be returning… _home_ …this year."

While Sirius took a surprising turn that afternoon, the weather took a miserable one for the following week. The only thing that brightened up the castle was the fact that a dog had broken into the castle on numerous occasions to chase Mrs Norris around.

The dismal December complemented Katherine's morose mood; her heart as heavy as a sky full of rain. Every mention of Slughorn's Christmas Party wrung more rain from her heart, and every sighting of Gideon – doubled with instances of mistaking Fabian for him – reignited the ill, numb feeling in her neck.

It was on Thursday afternoon, the day before the Christmas Party, when Katherine decided to test her pull-ups over the Black Lake before

It was while heading back to the castle that four black dots grew larger and larger, finally coming into focus in a messy scene of pelted snowballs and Katherine's fellow fifth year Gryffindors.

Peter paused mid-throw to wave up at Katherine – which she returned with a smile – and he was pelted with snowballs from all directions in his lapse of attention. It was as he and James rolled around in a mock wrestle in the snow that Katherine met the exasperated but amused eyes of Remus Lupin; his gloved hand raising in a warm wave.

Even from her distance, Katherine felt his deep, intelligent green eyes go through her and thought she might have been struck by lightning with the shock of an idea.

Any forethought vanished from her mind. She just knew that she had to do it, and she had to do it _then_. She didn't give herself any other choice.

She put her broom in the shed by the Quidditch Pitch and hastened through the knee deep snow to the lawns.

The four were loping through the courtyard and into the Entrance Hall with the time putting her broom back had costed her. James and Sirius spearheaded the quartet, colluding quietly with one another. Peter and Remus were behind.

Katherine endeavoured to not trip over her feverish feet.

"Remus?" squeaked Katherine, her voice a lot higher than intended.

James and Sirius had continued on, unperturbed. In the wake of their robes was a kindly smiling Remus adjusting his Prefect badge absentmindedly.

"Yes, Katherine?" inquired Remus.

Peter hesitated, visibly torn between scurrying after James and Sirius and waiting with Remus. But, James and Sirius had stopped short at their lack of a procession, looking back expectantly at their friend.

"I was wondering if I might be able to have a word," said Katherine, her eyes flickering to the others before back to him, "Alone."

Sirius snorted. Katherine's eyes flashed to him to find his arms crossed and his eyes on the stained glass windows.

"No can do, Spencer," James grinned, pulling Remus' arm, "We've have pressing matters to tend to."

" _Guys_ ," said Remus, pulling his arm free from James' grip before waving them on, "Go on – I'll catch up."

"But –" Peter tried to argue, his mouth dropped open to reveal his two large front teeth.

Remus fixed them with a stern look, " _I'll catch up._ "

James sighed deeply before turning and nodding at his friends.

Sirius' arms dropped from across his chest. He tucked his hands into his pockets instead, turning and leading the way out of the hallway.

Katherine watched the three retreat – Peter tripping over the threshold – with an empty chest.

"Sorry about them."

Remus' apology drew her eyes back to him.

Katherine blinked, gulped, and mustered a smile for the boy.

"Oh, no, it's alright." said Katherine lightly, swatting the air before knitting her hands together in front of herself.

Remus nodded, smiling before he cleared his throat and began shifting between his feet.

"So," said Remus, "What can I help you with?"

Even though she had rehearsed the words, they were pushed from her mind by the sound of his voice.

Her mouth fell open but nothing came out. She had the strange sense that she might like to cry.

" _Iwaswonderingifyou'dliketogotoSlughorn'sChristmaspartywithme?_ "

Remus blinked, "Sorry?"

Katherine looked up at the ceiling for strength, blew out a breath, and dove back into Remus Lupin's teddy-bear-eyes.

"It's just– …Slughorn's Christmas Party,"

"I...I was wondering – don't feel obligated to agree out of pity – but, er… I wanted to know if you'd like to go," she continued, smiling meekly and quickly, "With…with me."

Katherine was sure that she went cross-eyed while waiting for his reaction. She wanted to watch his face, but at the same time she wanted to never meet his eyes again. Her whole body felt hot and she was already planning to visit the bathroom after she escaped.

"Oh, er," managed Remus, seemingly just as eloquent as Katherine as he rubbed his chin, "Um…"

" _Oh_ , don't worry about it!" said Katherine, her face numb even when she tried to offer him a smile, "I'm terribly sorry for asking."

Katherine went to step around him, hit her hip on the One-Eyed-Witch statue, and tried to continue on as if none of it had ever happened.

"No!"

Remus stepped after her.

"Wait – hold on."

"Sorry." apologised Katherine, turning and tucking her hair behind both of her ears.

"Stop saying that." Remus gently admonished her, laughing lightly as he swayed and gingerly tapped her wrist.

Katherine flashed red-hot at his kind-heartedness.

"Sorry."

"I was just surprised, is all," said Remus, clearing his throat, "I didn't expect you to ask me…well, _that_."

"Oh, yeah," accepted Katherine, her neck propelling her head up and down so feverently that she was sure it would snap, "Completely understand how it may have come as a shock –"

"Stop backpedalling," Remus halted her with closed eyes and a slow, warm smile, "I'm _trying_ to say _yes_."

Katherine thought that she might pop open in relief.

"Really?" asked Katherine, thinking she'd misheard.

Remus continued to smile at her, " _Really_."

"Thank you." whispered Katherine with wide eyes that she fixed on the desk she had hit her hip on.

"Just, er," Remus' voice was suddenly high again, "Why me?"

Katherine lifted her eyes and lost any composure she had regained.

"Oh, well– it's just," Katherine tried and failed, sighing, "You were the only person I thought to ask really."

Remus nodded slowly, a smile spreading across the lower half of his face at the same pace. Something was swinging back and forth in his mind behind his eyes, but Katherine couldn't discern it.

"I'll meet you in the common room at six o'clock on the night." said Remus firmly, smiling.

He turned to go, undoubtedly wanting to catch his friends as he promised he would.

"Remus?" Katherine stalled him.

Remus turned his head over his shoulder, only his profile visible to Katherine.

"Yes?"

"Thank you– _again_."

Remus smiled one last time before ambling out of sight, out into the hallway.

At dinner the candles over the four tables at dinner seemed brighter than they had in days.

She only saw Remus once more that day, having a midnight Astronomy class as the night was not only incredibly crisp, but also clear. A poke had alerted Katherine to his presence as she sat with her legs poking out of the gaps in the balustrade; marking off significant astronomical changes on her star chart.

"What are you doing?" whispered Katherine, as she shuffled over to accommodate Remus' legs beside her own in her chosen stone gap.

The class of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were fanned out over the top of the Astronomy Tower; some people laying with their star charts draped over their faces, others eating sweets; giggles and snores melding together.

Remus' friends fell into the category of those eating sweets; staring out at the Forbidden Forest as their star charts lay forgotten beside them a few metres to Katherine's left. Lily sat on Katherine's other side, half-asleep, but at least trying to stay awake. Marlene had abandoned telescopes and the night sky altogether in favour of a pair of binoculars she set on the Forest to see if she could prove to Marcus that Acromantula's did live in there; standing behind Katherine, bent over the balustrade.

Remus laughed lightly, knocking his shoulder in her own, "Just checking that you're awake."

"Very funny," said Katherine playfully, blinking slowly and finding herself warming to levels of conversation from his warmth-radiating side, "Found Mars yet?"

"No," Remus shrugged, "But I wrote down that it was that one to the left of Scorpius and dusted my hands with my star chart."

"Other things to do?" asked Katherine, distractedly marking the phase of the moon.

Remus hummed, Katherine able to see his sky-bound gaze in her periphery, "Other things to think about."

"You can help me, then."

Remus peered at her star chart, nodding until he reached her most recent addition, "The half-moon is tonight, and it's not waning – it's waxing,"

His eyes returned to the sky.

"The next full moon is on Christmas."

* * *

He watched Katherine shiver, and fought the automatic twitch at his shoulder blades to shrug off his robe and offer it to her, knowing it would earn him a few very confused looks – most of all from the girl herself.

She was star-pale on the edge of the Astronomy Tower, _celestial_ , and dotted with marks from the sun.

He was still growing reaccustomed to her mousier blonde shade of hair, having thought the platinum colour suited her just as fine and would have complemented the midnight sky, and his own hair, all the better. But he couldn't find that he cared what colour her hair was, so long as it was hers. He could craft thousands of flowery phrases – never to be said aloud, of course – no matter what the hue.

He had thought her a very respectable pure-blooded young lady, as her surname suggested of her, when she wore an assorted range of pastel robes with Agatha Tatting's signature embroidery in the first weeks of the school term. Muggle miniskirts, jeans, and dresses, however, began to trickle into her wardrobe, seemingly out of nowhere, and much to his notice.

The past Hogsmeade weekend, he thought she looked particularly enchanting despite the absence of magic garb, both delicate and commanding in what seemed to be her favourite suede coat. He had never seen her smile with such unrestrained delight – with such sincerity – as when she was being assaulted with missives of ice.

Something about the clouds and her had mixed, and he knew that it was impossible to look at her and not revere her.

He'd resigned himself to a celibate existence, from a very young age, but then she emerged from behind Lily after the welcoming feast – like the sun after the dreary eclipse that had been his life before her.

He'd seen a hummingbird once in his life, and he couldn't stop his heart from doing its best impression every time he saw her.

* * *

"Nice broom – the nimbus, huh?"

James squatted down slowly, rubbing his clicking knees and letting out a puff of breath when his backside found a resting place beside Remus.

"How _did_ you get it?" asked Lily from Katherine's other side, frowning as she scribbled in the phase of the moon, "I didn't see it come by post."

Katherine had told her friends about her botched interaction with Gideon, but, for all they knew, it had taken place in the castle. Her morning of passage sneaking, broom buying, and snow throwing, was a secret to all but those who were there.

"A few… _friends_ helped me out." said Katherine, hesitating with the term.

James nodded once, a curve in his lips, and Remus knocked her knee with his own.

Katherine's chest cavity seemed to increase ten-fold to account for her swelling heart, glad that she hadn't been presumptuous.

"It'll be good to see how it changes things at practises," said James, eyes set on the darkened Quidditch Pitch, "You could probably out strap me and Sirius on our 1500's."

"Sirius and I." said Katherine in correction, marking in Venus on her star chart.

"Ah, yes," said Professor Sinistra, waving across the night sky, "Sirius is even hotter than the sun, did you know?"

" _That's a new one._ " muttered the boy who shared the star's name, shaking his hair back from his face and contemplating the forest with faintest twitch of amusement in his brow.

"No, I didn't know," said Katherine, leaning into Remus and whispering, "But I dare say Dorcas Meadowes does."

The Ravenclaw was gnawing away on her bottom lip and gripping her creaking star chart with hands of iron. Her fringe was a black curtain her mooning eyes peeked out from behind, watching Sirius where he leant back on his hands and threw his head back with a bark of laughter at something Peter had said.

"Sirius knows she wants to ask him to the Christmas Party," said Remus with a sideways glance, his fluffy hair tickling her cheek, "He'll use you as a human shield if you let him, so don't get between him and any girls in the next couple of days."

Sirius wasn't classically handsome like Gideon or Bertram, although he shared in some features of the stereotype. _He was,_ instead and more aptly _, darkly handsome_ , Katherine thought as she surreptitiously watched the boy.

There was a wildness entombed in his aristocratic features, a wildness that resented its imprisonment in such limiting scapes of skin –

"Katherine!" whispered Marlene, looking through binoculars instead of her telescope, "You need to see this!"

Katherine accepted the cool metal thrusted upon her hands, and hesitantly peered through the glass, her skin plummeting to match the temperature of the binoculars.

A cascade of, what had always seemed to Katherine, silk-spun platinum, glittered under the starlight and against the back of willowy robes. Despite the caress of the icy breeze against her own cheeks and tousled hair, Katherine noted that the silky-haired night stroller didn't have to fix hers once, like always.

A fact unable to be ignored was that Narcissa Black wasn't alone; her robed-arm looped through another's, and her cheek resting delicately against a square-cut shoulder where a sharp jaw descended into Katherine's magnified view to drop a sweet kiss on her star-spangled hair.

Lucius Malfoy may have been in his dormitory, on patrol, or the library, but Katherine knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wasn't with Narcissa.

Gideon Prewett was.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 15: A Well-Mannered Night of Frivolity (Preview) ~*_

" _I don't need your approval for who I date, Sev."_

" _You should at least consider my disapproval when it pertains to a slime ball like Aubrey."_

" _Don't call him that," said Lily, frowning, "He's very nice – if you had come to meet us at the Three Broomsticks on the last Hogsmeade trip like I asked you to, you would have –"_

" _Probably hexed him."_

 _Lily's eyes flashed like a curse, "Severus Snape, I –"_

" _Am ungrateful of the concern from one of you oldest friends," interrupted Snape, "He takes up all of your time, Lily – it's not healthy."_

 _Lily's words were caustic out of her twisted lips, "And you'd know what a healthy relationship looks like, would you?"_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: A Well-Mannered Night of Frivolity

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for all of the new favourites, follows, and reviews on the last chapter!**

 _ **G**_ **; I'll be kind to Remus (even if it's just in the end), I've got a big soft spot for his character too.**

 _ **Guest**_ **; I'm beyond glad that it isn't completely obvious who Katherine will end up with – I find myself accidentally writing names and things that will give it all away before going back and fixing things up in editing. Thinking it's someone new every now and then is imperative to both my author confidentiality and to give it some realism – because, in life, we're compatible with many different people in many different ways and I want to show that – but also to show how Katherine makes her choice in the end, based on someone who will understand her – and almost mirrors her in some ways.**

 _ **noturgorl**_ **; I really enjoy writing her admirer's perspective for you all to read too! Keep a close eye out and you'll see certain phrases and mentions of things overlap (I've already begun to leave hints in almost every chapter). I'm pleased you liked the interactions between Katherine and the boys because there's going to be plenty more – they're the most fun bits for me to write! Another thing I've done when planning this story, was writing out a list of things I would like to see unfold, such as; how Lily fell slowly but surely in love with James, what made Sirius snap and run away when he was still underage, why Lucius always hated on the Weasley's, etc. The Prewett's were, in fact, a Sacred Twenty-Eight pureblood family, and I just thought '** _ **what if Lucius and Molly had been in some sort of arrangement – despite her being older, because let's face it, it only matters that matches were of pure blood – and she broke it off when she eloped with Arthur?**_ **' (Bill mentioned that they eloped right out of school when Molly is trying to chastise him for marrying Fleur so soon) and then my mind wanted to rub salt in the wound by adding Gideon and Narcissa in together, and there you have it; a reason for Lucius to despite the Weasley's and Prewett's – maybe going so far as to murder the brothers too on that fateful Order mission.**

 **I've waffled on enough – here's Chapter 15!**

* * *

There was no _one_ feature alone that made Gideon Prewett handsome. _His eyes came close though_ , thought Katherine. It wasn't the shade of his iris, but rather the intelligence, gentleness, and nobility that shone through them. A certain aura of 'Head Boy-ness'.

Katherine didn't have many fancies in her life before Hogwarts; attending an all-girls school and spending her summers at another single gender institution for her football camp. The few she did sight in passing on the street, at parties with her Aunt and Uncle, or even the young student teachers that would pass through St Mary's, fit the same mould as Gideon.

Sensible, fair-haired, charming, and deeply intelligent. A ruthless, pithy wit was sure to secure her heart even more resolutely, to complete the seduction of her heart and mind.

Gideon Prewett was both everything Katherine could ever want, and nothing she could ever have.

After sighting him with Narcissa, the ill-numb-feeling in the back of her neck had abated – a constant pull in her jaw and stomach replacing it. Envy boiled in her veins every time a flash of platinum flicked by her in the hallway, and a deep sadness every time a honeyed head of hair slipped past in the torchlight.

Narcissa Black was tall and willowy.

Katherine was average height, if not a little on the short side, and athletically built.

Narcissa Black was soft spoken and delicate in all of her movements.

Katherine was, too, soft spoken – but not as much as the seventh year – and moved with more purpose than femininity.

Narcissa Black's hair was one, clean, silky tone, and her skin was seemingly crafted from the finest porcelain.

Katherine's hair was the mousiest possible shade of blonde, and her skin sported a few adolescent spots and was smattered with many freckles – all hidden behind permanently red cheeks and a red nose.

Narcissa Black was unyielding, intelligent, and charming.

Katherine was unsure, irresolute, and bumbled and baffled her way through interactions to meet her ends.

Narcissa Black wanted to be with Gideon Prewett.

Katherine did too.

But neither of them could have him.

"Oh, I need a tea!" moaned Marlene, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Potter's bloody laughing all through Charms has given me a splitting headache."

Katherine tore her eyes away from where the Prewett twins lingered by the courtyard as the cause of Marlene's headache came into view, laughing yet again with Sirius and Peter. Remus had been walking with Frank Longbottom behind them, chatting, when he turned back.

Katherine offered Remus a smile, a new warmth between them after the happenings of the last three days.

He had stumbled across her in the library close to curfew, all but giving herself a migraine to finish her star chart that she'd left untouched after the heart-wrenching discovery in Astronomy the night before. It didn't help her state that the source of her distraction was studying the aisle over.

Remus had sat with her, and when Katherine had – reluctantly – divulged her rejection at the Three Broomsticks and what she had seen the previous night on the Astronomy Tower, Remus had opened his bag and pushed a bar of Honeydukes butter-mellow-triple-fudge-delight across the table. He listened as she all but sobbed around the chocolate bar, and when she was done, he recommended that she used the Astronomy Tower the following night – despite it being out of bounds – to finish her chart.

Throughout the following day, whenever she had been forced into situations where she had to be in the vicinity of the Head Boy, she found little caps of foiled-chocolate in the bottom of her bag and a retreating head of fluffy hair stowing a wand back into his robes.

Between Lily, Marlene, and Remus' attempts at cheering her up – Katherine realised that her time was wasted being upset over a boy when she had such wonderful friends she could be spending time with instead. So she began to count down the hours until curfew – until she could run down the girls' dormitory stairs and find Remus in a thick winter coat with his own star chart.

They had bolted through the hallways in the direction of the Astronomy Tower, masking squeaks and laughter when they had to hide from Filch. The only time Katherine thought of Gideon was when she and Remus had to jump through a secret passage to avoid the patrolling Head Boy.

It was only once they were sitting in the glow of the almost-full moon on the edge of the Astronomy Tower that Katherine noticed that he had the look of being blasted square in the face by an arctic gale again.

Katherine reached into her pocket for one of the chocolates she hadn't gotten around to eating and placed it on his knee, "Here."

"No, no," said Remus, smiling, and pushing it back, "It's yours now."

"You have that 'one-stunner-will-do-you-in' look on your face again – _please_ , I _insist_ ," Katherine forced the chocolate back upon him, smiling sympathetically, "Are your friends grating at your weak constitution again?"

Remus smiled as he slowly and carefully unwrapped the chocolate, "Always."

"So which is the real you?" asked Katherine, gently nudging his arm as he chewed on the chocolate, "Prefect Lupin or running-through-the-hallways-with-me-past-curfew Remus?"

Remus swallowed the sweet treat and smiled, before briskly frowning at his knees.

"I don't really know…" he confessed, hesitating, "I…"

Remus' eyes lifted from his knees, and he seemed to appraise Katherine for a moment.

"My parents live in a very cut off village in North Yorkshire, so growing up I mainly had my mother and my father's bookshelf for company – he worked a lot, you see. So I've always been studious, I guess, but…"

Remus' eyes left Katherine's in favour of the Whomping Willow down on the lawns.

"But I started getting sick around the age of five and my parents didn't think I would have a chance to go to Hogwarts…"

Katherine had never heard the boy speak so candidly about himself, and found the desire to hear more overpowering her usual acceptance of his privacy.

"What happened?" asked Katherine.

"Dumbledore came to our cottage a few days after my eleventh birthday – he assured my parents that Madam Pomfrey was an excellent healer and would be able to keep me healthy while I got the education I was entitled to," continued Remus, "I got that – and more – I got three brilliant friends who helped me have more fun than I dreamed possible when I used to read by the window at home,"

Watching him watch the forest, Katherine was sure she had never seen such a wistful expression on a younger face, and she felt a pit of grief open up for it in her stomach when his eyes creased and his mouth hardened.

"But I feel obligated to Dumbledore – to repay him – for my education…but I also feel a duty to enjoy myself with the friends that put up with my constant illness…"

It was a concern most fifteen year old boys didn't have to shoulder, and Katherine felt a rush of kindred empathy for him. She too shouldered a burden most fifteen year old girls didn't have to.

"I understand why you feel lonely now."

"Yes," Remus smiled sadly, before looking at her and smiling more provocatively, "But why do _you_?"

Katherine remembered her declaration to him on the top of the Teacher's Tower on the Quidditch Pitch all those weeks ago, and found that it didn't quite fit anymore; like a jumper with too-short sleeves. She had never laughed so happily as when she had stolen through Hogsmeade with James and Sirius – and she had never had such steadfast friends that she had found in Lily and Marlene.

"I don't," said Katherine, lightly, "Not anymore."

"And you're even doing well in school," said Remus, just as lightly, nudging her, "Did you ever find out what form your Patronus takes?"

"No," Katherine shrugged, "You need an exceptionally happy memory for a corporeal one."

"Will you show me how to do it?"

Katherine had nothing to lose, and Remus had everything to gain, so she thought back on all of her previous attempts and held up her wand.

" _Expecto Patronum_."

"I thought you said…"

Katherine eyed the silver fox prancing around the piece of sky just beyond the balustrade of the Astronomy Tower, her lips falling open in shock and response.

"So did I…" said Katherine, wide-eyed, "This is… this is the first time…"

"Maybe you have a better chance against you-know-who than you thought, most people don't accomplish a Patronus until well after school…"

They hadn't spoken since, Katherine realised as she watched the fifth year boys move through the archway left by the opened double doors to the Great Hall.

Remus turned back to Frank and muttered something indistinguishable to Katherine. Frank went on, jogging to throw an arm around James, and Remus walked back to the girls; his sandy hair the neatest Katherine had ever seen it, and one hand tugging on his Gryffindor scarf.

"Remus –" Lily began to greet.

Lily's bright enthusiasm shifted to confusion as he walked right past her.

The pull at Katherine's jaw and stomach vanished, along with the latter's bottom.

"Katherine, I need to ask you –" Remus was cut off before he could get out his question.

"Come on, Moony!" called James, grabbing the back of Remus' robes and pulling him into the Great Hall.

Remus tried to free himself and looked back over his shoulder between attempts. Before he disappeared inside the hall, he offered Katherine one last apologetic look.

"What was all of that about?" asked Marlene, turning her attention to Katherine.

They crossed under the doorway of the Great Hall.

"Dunno," said Katherine, attempting indifference, "He never got to finish his question."

Emmeline looked away from the girls, "I'm going to sit with Diggle today…" she excused herself, slipping away.

Sitting at a spot Lily had picked at the Gryffindor table, Marlene relented. It was then that Katherine used the break in conversation as a chance to look around.

She found the boys easily. They were across the table and down a few metres. The buzz of conversation between the fifth year boys and the fifth year girls kept them well and truly separate. But glances were thrown by the boys every now and then. Mainly by James.

Katherine caught Remus' eye yet again. But this time he nodded at the door, making significant motions with his eyes. Katherine got the message, nodding once and glancing around to make sure that the encounter had gone undetected.

"Well, I'm stuffed," declared Remus, over the noise of lunchtime conversation, standing and patting his stomach for effect, "I need to head back to the dorms to grab my textbook, so I'll see you guys in Herbology."

He barely got over the bench before Sirius threw a glance over his shoulder.

"Could you grab mine too?" asked Sirius, taking a bite from a fruit-skewer before twirling it around.

Remus nodded, but his eyes were flickering between Katherine and the doors, "Yes, of course."

Katherine turned away from the retreating shoulders of the boy and intended to follow his lead. She thought she might as well just stand, and think of an excuse on the way up.

"Where are you going?" asked Marlene, nursing her tea cup.

"Just…" Katherine grappled for an excuse under the eyes of her best friend, "Just for a walk."

Marlene's hands left her tea cup and went either side of her on the bench, "I'll come with you."

"It's okay, finish your tea," said Katherine with a forced smile, "Soothe your headache – you've still got another hour with Potter after lunch."

Marlene groaned, lifted her tea cup to Katherine, and then took a large gulp of it.

Katherine made a quick retreat, reaching the Entrance Hall and slowing. She didn't know where Remus was going to meet her.

 _Had she missed something between nods?_

A hand closing around her elbow and pulling her around quelled her concerns.

Remus stood there, letting go of her elbow and holding his own wrist instead.

"What's going on?" asked Katherine, tucking her hair behind both ears.

"Oh, er," Remus shifted between his feet, "I don't know how to ask you this, but…ah…"

He wasn't looking at her. Instead, he seemed to have taken a fancy in the exit to the courtyard behind her.

"Yes?" urged Katherine, trying to catch his eyes.

"What colour is your dress?" asked Remus, finally, looking back to her with an apprehensive expression.

Katherine looked down at her robes, ready to ask if he needed glasses. She wasn't wearing a dress, and her robes were the same colour as his.

"My…" Katherine trailed off, feeling her forehead wrinkle.

"Your dress for the party!" said Remus quickly, smiling timidly, "I… I don't want to clash."

"Oh!" Katherine breathed out in realisation, thinking to the dress that was hanging up in her dormitory at that very second, "It's white-ish."

Some colour returned to Remus' face.

"Thank Merlin," laughed Remus, his hands swinging by his side, "You wouldn't believe some of the colours I've seen purebloods wear…"

Katherine let out a bark of laughter, joining him in his amusement. She was, indeed, very glad when Lily brought two dresses back from Hogsmeade; unable to decide in Gladrags which one she liked best, and eventually decided on the high-neck, bell-sleeved purple one – leaving Katherine the cream coloured, bateau-necked, and butterfly-sleeved one.

"Do you remember the magenta trousers Stebbins wore to Hogsmeade?" said Katherine, trying to keep her giggles at bay.

Remus' eyes, mossy against the pale sky and stone, flashed in solidarity.

"He's mental, absolutely mental," agreed Remus, "Or what about –"

"This doesn't look like the dormitory."

Sirius stood behind them; arms crossed, eyebrows raised, and his expression indifferently haughty.

"I'll see you tonight." whispered Remus, his breath cool against her ear as she no longer felt his warm shoulder at her side.

They disappeared together in the direction of Gryffindor Tower, undoubtedly to fetch their textbooks.

Remembering her lie to Marlene, Katherine decided to head back to Gryffindor Tower herself, being mindful to slow her usual stride as to not run into Remus and Sirius again. Katherine and Remus hadn't agreed to _not_ mention that they were attending Slughorn's Christmas party together to their friends, but neither had.

In trying to avoid catching up to Remus and Sirius, James and Peter caught up to Katherine – passing her whilst too deep in conversation for their usual nod and grin of acknowledgment.

"And I can't even hex him – he's not a dungeon bat up to his eyeballs in the dark arts like Snivellus!" whispered James, furiously.

"You could always put belch powder in his drink tonight?" said Peter.

James seemed to debate it, before shaking his head, "Nah, I don't want him to spew all over Evans' new robes…"

They sped up the stairs, heads low in conversation, passing the unmistakeable curtain of hair and weedy stature of Snape without so much as a falter in their step or a twitch in their wand hands. Bertram Aubrey, in recent weeks, had been the new recipient of James and Sirius' natural talents as well as Lily's affection.

James and Sirius specialised in sudden bouts of tentacles when Bertram was already sucking face with Lily or a certain proclivity for ceiling-walking when he needed to get to class. Bertram was also constantly afflicted with the urge to trip when passing the Slytherin table to leave meals – _that_ , Katherine knew, owing to Snape also taking issue with the new couple.

Upon finally entering the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Katherine found Giles was already at his desk. Or rather, leant against it; a new piece of parchment in his hand. He looked over the top of his glasses before pulling them off and placing them on his desk. He waited patiently for everyone to pool in.

The chairs and desks were noticeably pushed to the edges of the room. A practical lesson would ensue.

"We're going to do some work with counter-jinxes today," announced Giles, "After these past weeks, it has come to my attention that your pairings need to be reshuffled,"

He gave Sirius and James an eyeing after his words, undoubtedly because they sent no less than three people to the hospital wing in their last practical lesson.

"Lupin and –" Lily went to step forward "– Spencer."

Katherine blinked, not registering her name. Nor the fact that she was in the top two students of the class.

Lily had stopped, frowned, and stepped back to stand by Marlene and Alice again.

"Evans and Snape."

James groaned.

"Potter and Dolohov."

Unsurprisingly, the names earnt another groan from James.

"Black and Mulciber."

"Longbottom and Fortescue."

Alice and Frank being paired together was a breath of relief in the series of strange pairings. Katherine understood that James and Sirius needed to be separated, but… _separated_ _by budding Death Eaters?_

When Giles finished, Sirius stalked up to him.

"Sir, I think there's been a mistake." said Sirius, bullishly.

"There's no mistake, Mister Black." said Giles, blinking slowly.

"But last week I was –"

"Sirius Black, you might be named after the brightest star in the night sky," Giles cut his student off sharply, inclining his head with a firm stare, "But you are most certainly not the brightest student in the room."

Sirius restrained himself with visible effort, his sharp jaw pulsing. He unfurled his veiny hands, blew a breath out of his nose, and all but stomped over to Mulciber. The Slytherin looked marginally frightened.

Katherine found herself surprised as she walked over to Remus. Giles had always been quite an agreeable Professor. The sudden snap at Sirius had made the entire room quiet, everyone hesitant to begin their casting.

"Is there anything that you don't want me to cast at you?" asked Remus with a kind smile as they squared up.

"Rictusempra is right out," said Katherine, lightly, "I haven't been to the loo since before breakfast."

Remus laughed lightly but nodded, lifting his wand.

Remus only used three jinxes and their counter-jinxes. The _Langlock Jinx_ ; sticking her tongue to the roof of her mouth, the _Ebublio Jinx_ ; trapping her in a bubble, and the _Steleus Hex_ ; making her sneeze until he used the counter-spell.

Katherine was kind to him in turn with her three jinxes and hexes. The _Colloshoo Hex_ ; sticking his shoes to the ground, the _Locomotor Wibbly Jinx_ ; making his legs collapse like jelly, and the _Relashio Jinx_ ; making him drop his wand.

Sirius, on the other hand – and on the other side of the room – was holding no prisoners. He, _first_ , inflated Mulciber's head _and then_ tentacles promptly sprouted all over his head. And, _finally_ , they began to sing terribly off-key. He watched it in false righteous glee for a moment before beginning any of the counter-spells.

Giles turned a blind eye, not wanting to give Sirius the satisfaction of a detention. He, instead, tried to squeeze a morsel of talent out of Peter where he was partnered with Crabbe at the front of the classroom.

When the bell rang, marking the end of the lesson and safety from Sirius Black's wand, Katherine waved to Remus and strode across the room to Lily; questions about what to expect at the Christmas Party on the tip of her tongue.

It seemed that Snape hadn't had questions on the tip of his tongue, Lily frowning up at him before her own tongue became sharp.

"I don't need your approval for who I date, Sev."

"You should at least consider my disapproval when it pertains to a slime ball like Aubrey."

"Don't call him that," said Lily, frowning, "He's very nice – if you had come to meet us at the Three Broomsticks on the last Hogsmeade trip like I asked you to, you would have –"

"Probably hexed him."

Lily's eyes flashed like a curse, "Severus Snape, I –"

"Am ungrateful of the concern from one of you oldest friends," interrupted Snape, "He takes up all of your time, Lily – it's not _healthy_."

Lily's words were caustic out of her twisted lips, "And you'd know what a healthy relationship looks like, would you?"

Snape scowled and turned, but Lily caught his hand with wide eyes – immediately repentant.

"I'm sorry," said Lily, quickly, "That wasn't right of me."

Snape shook her hand off, "If this is what you've become with Aubrey's influence, I don't know if I want to –"

"Don't, Sev," said Lily, looking down at her shoes, "It would hurt you just as much as it would hurt me if we weren't friends."

As Katherine closed in on the pair squabbling by the window, she realised that Bertram Aubrey _had_ stolen a lot of Lily's time. According to Marlene, Lily used to spend lunches on the lawns with Snape and sit with him in classes that the Gryffindors shared with the Slytherins. But adding Katherine and Aubrey to the mix resulted in very little time for Snape. Katherine never saw him; between not seeking out unpleasantness in his open hostility to anyone that wasn't Lily Evans and often being around James for Quidditch related conversation, their paths rarely crossed.

Snape's colourless stare rose and pierced Katherine, "What are _you_ doing here?"

" _Severus_." whispered Lily, gripping his elbow in reprimand.

"Lily and I always walk to classes together." said Katherine, plainly, not wanting to give him a reason to pull his wand on her if she were ever going down a dark hallway alone at night.

"The only thing she walks towards with you – is trouble."

Snape sneered, turned, and skulked away; his too-large robes billowing in his wake.

"Sorry about him," said Lily, sighing after him and shaking her head, "He doesn't make friends that easily…"

"That's a rubbish way of saying he's a rotten person." said Marlene, slowing by them.

Lily's shoulders straightened, "Not –"

"To you," said Marlene, nodding as they walked to the door, "Yeah, we know."

The fight died on Lily's tongue and Katherine asked her burning questions about what to expect at the Christmas Party, being wary to not mention the Slytherin. The rest of the day blurred by in anticipation and inattention and at six o'clock, as Remus had specified for their meeting, Katherine braved the stairs to the near-empty common room.

Mostly everyone was at dinner in the Great Hall or already at Slughorn's do.

* * *

The three boys had turned together, but he forgot them quickly. The common room fell away and it felt as if he were standing at an altar; watching her timid approach with a slack jaw and blooming chest, wondering if gulping had always been so noisy.

 _She was vision in white_ , he decided, _a flashlight in the dark_.

A dainty garland of scarlet – mistletoe – crowned her for the festivities, but it could have easily been baby's breath; to accompany to the bells he heard in his head. He thought that her slender wrist would look striking with the traditional crimson hand-fastening ribbon.

He'd never imagined his wedding before.

Maybe it was because he was closer to coming of age – or because he hadn't gone through voice-cracking and spotty chins with her around – but she fostered thoughts of what was beyond adolescence, invoking churning sensations of anxiousness and a strange desire for monogamy.

Every time she appeared, the day never ended and his smile never faded.

Every time she disappeared, she took the sun with her, in her draped tendrils of gold – and brought about many ends within him, along with the day.

* * *

Remus was leaning against the back of the couch closest the Girls' stairs, like he had promised, and snapped to his feet in a blur of his formal graphite robes.

"Hello." said Katherine, quietly.

"Hello." returned Remus, tugging at his cuffs.

Katherine was acutely aware of Sirius and Peter just feet away.

"Ready to pretend to enjoy the company of a bunch of tossers?" Katherine attempted to joke.

Remus expression was thoughtful.

"Well, James will be there…" tried Remus half-heartedly before grinning, " _Yeah_ , you're still right– let's go anyway."

He proffered his arm with only a split-second of hesitation, she slipped her hand inside his wiry bicep, and then they were walking.

"Are you sure that you should have asked me?" Remus broke the short silence once they made it out of the portrait hole, "You could have asked James – or Sirius even…"

They stepped off of the moving staircase together and moved along the fifth floor landing.

The scene of her asking Sirius Black to attend with her haunted Katherine's brain for a few seconds before she dismissed it as being completely mad. _She could almost hear his barking laughter…_

Katherine found herself looking at Remus with ill-disguised amusement, "Sirius Black?"

"Well, he _is_ used to these types of things…" murmured Remus, his eyes on his dress shoes.

Katherine looked away from an uncomfortable Remus Lupin and instead frowned at the path in front of them.

The two continued down – down into the dungeons.

"Katherine! My dear girl!" Slughorn's jubilant and quivering grin met her.

His watery eyes slid to Remus on her arm and his smile faltered.

Katherine fixed her expression to be a bit sterner as she awaited his next words.

Slughorn's smile picked back up, "Oh, and you've brought a _friend_ ,"

Slughorn gestured wildly to the open door, his rotund gut straining against the buttons of his shirt.

"Well, _come in– come in!_ Both of you!"

Garlands of holly and roses were strung along ceilings much higher than Katherine remembered – undoubtedly altered by magic; snow gently falling over tables of decadent treats and glittering drinks. Through the mass of crimson and clover, Katherine found the familiar faces of her friends, newly anointed foes, and acquaintances.

"Any chocolate on you?" whispered Katherine, turning her head surreptitiously to Remus as she returned a wave to Lily.

"I knew I forgot something."

Before she could suggest they try the jelly slug surprise, a set of tight platinum curls sprung across them.

"So the rumours are true…"

"You mean the ones you started?" asked Remus, narrowing his eyes the matched the clover coloured decorations and flashed in contrast to the crimson.

"You've got bark," said Rita, her praise vanishing in favour of an inciting smile, "But none of your friends' bite."

"We'd love to give you a picture for the next article you feed Jasmine Copper, but Slughorn has the only camera in commission," said Remus, gripping Katherine's hand tighter to the crook of his elbow, "Now, if you'll please excuse us –"

"Slughorn has the only camera – just like Miss Spencer has one of the only Nimbus seventeen-hundreds in England," said Rita, quickly, before settling at their rigidness and smiling once more, "I could have sworn there was a person beside the mirror that rebounded Miss Greengrass' curse on the last Hogsmeade weekend with such a broom under their arm…"

Katherine felt irritation bubble up and down her spine, "What, exactly, do you think that you know?"

"I propose an exchange…" Rita leant forward, "I accept galleons, goblin-made jewellery, and secrets."

"James Potter got me the broom," said Katherine, not wanting to enter into a bargain that would ensure an appearance of guilt were it ever uncovered, "There's no story there, Rita."

"That's not what a little beetle told me…" sang Rita, dancing away to latch onto Salvatore Pucey's arm once again.

"If me and Peter saw you in the town square in that snowball fight… someone else might have – someone else that might be interested in an exchange like that." said Remus, staring after Rita.

"What's the worst that could happen?" asked Katherine, battling down blooming concern, "They announce our wedding?"

"Well, well, well,"

Katherine resisted a grimace and turned, having had enough of Slytherin's for the day.

Greengrass looked down her nose at Remus, "I see that you've brought a pet, Spencer."

"I see that you forgot to bring your manners, Greengrass." said Katherine, feeling for her wand.

Greengrass' brown eyes bulged dangerously, "Watch your tongue –"

"Professor Slughorn!" Katherine called to the empty space over Greengrass' shoulder.

Greengrass immediately whipped around, her face falling.

"Sir –" Greengrass began to greet before she recognised the empty space.

But it was too late, Katherine had already slipped away, giggling with Remus.

" _Hey!_ " Greengrass called after them, crossing her arms.

"Moony –" James blurred across Katherine's field of vision before stopping at Remus like a dog begging – "Aren't I glad to see you, I need to talk about –"

James had cut himself off as his eyes found Katherine, at last, beside Remus.

"Oh, Katherine… hullo." Greeted James, pushing his glasses up his nose and neatening the back of his hair.

A second passed and all the three did was look at one another.

"I'm _here_ with _Katherine_ , Prongs." Remus told James slowly.

"Oh," James nodded with an absent smile, "That's nice…"

Another beat of silence passed.

"This is Lily related, isn't it?" asked Remus, bracingly.

James turned and then turned back; his face screwed up. Katherine half expected him to stomp his feet and cross his arms. But he only crossed his arms, throwing a scowl over his shoulder.

"She's here with _him_."

Katherine cleared her throat, bowing her head and looking for an out, "I… I think that I'll go get us some drinks."

"Good idea." murmured Remus.

Katherine thought that he sounded jealous.

It was as she perused the foreign appetisers and bowls of drink that a familiar hand reached for a goblet. And a familiar shoulder gently bumped Katherine's.

"Gideon," breathed Katherine, tucking her hair behind her ears, "I thought that you weren't coming."

Katherine watched as his eyebrows twitched teasingly, his lips smiling at her from the rim of his goblet.

"He didn't."

Katherine leant back to observe the blond young man, "Fabian?"

He grinned, holding out his arms for effect.

"In the flesh," confirmed Fabian, taking another sip and nudging Katherine with wink, "But for a pretty price."

Katherine found herself relaxed at the revelation.

"With that chin and those cheekbones," Katherine played along, clutching a hand to her chest, "What else would reimburse you bar a handsome reward?"

Fabian grinned into his goblet, swirled it, and then considered Katherine amusedly.

"I told him you were smart." Fabian tapped her shoe beneath his own before leaning back on a clear space of tablecloth.

Katherine knew that he was probably joking, but if they spoke about her… she was curious.

"I didn't realise I was such a hot topic." fished Katherine.

Fabian tilted his head, "Well, you know," he shrugged, "The 'Wizarding World's Saviour' thing and all…"

A laugh tickled her from the inside out, "Ah, but you two knew me before all of that nonsense."

Fabian inclined his head and looked down at her with a slight smile.

"For about a whole ten seconds, mind you."

Katherine nodded with feigned solemness, shifting her weight onto her right leg and peering thoughtfully into her goblet.

"Yes, I was really concealing my mega-diva personality– a pain, really," She looked up and grinned, "I charge for every run-in I have with –"

Fabian's eyes set on something behind Katherine's head and widened.

"Slughorn's coming!" Fabian alerted her in an extremely hushed tone, "I can't speak to him or else he'll know that I'm not Gideon!"

Fabian put his goblet on the table before taking Katherine's from her hand and setting it down beside his. The next thing that she knew, he took a hold Katherine's own hand; Katherine pulled through an archway and behind silk hangings.

Everything was suddenly pink – tinged by the hangings.

"I –" Fabian broke off, scanning either side for any sign of a rotund gut –"I think we're safe."

"You go on, then," said Katherine with a smile, having to constantly remind herself that he wasn't Gideon, "You could make a break for the door and go get your reward."

Fabian gulped, glanced at the door, and turned back to Katherine with a frown, "What about you?"

"I've had a night and a half," said Katherine, truthfully, sighing, "But I can't leave just yet,"

Fabian gave her a tight smile of sympathy.

Katherine returned it and nodded toward to door, "You go on."

Licking his lips in indecision, he jiggled a fog watch out of his pocket; gold and gleaming; "It _is_ past eight…"

Katherine leant over, observing the clock face for herself.

"Neat watch," said Katherine, smiling and tracing a hand over the revolving and obscure shapes in place of the second and minute hands, "I like the stars."

"Thanks," said Fabian, closing it and pocketing it once more, "Molly's going to harp on me for dropping it – ' _Do you want your sons and nephews thinking you don't value tradition when they get passed this on their seventeenth birthday?_ '"

"Nephews?" asked Katherine, curious to the addition to what would be the tradition of father to son.

Gideon shrugged, "It'll probably go to one of her boys – I don't have plans to settle down any time soon."

Fabian offered Katherine one last smile and slipped out of sight.

But someone swiftly took his place; looking down their nose as they righted their crystal and gold cufflinks.

" _I thought that he would never leave…_ "

Katherine thought the younger boy's chronological disadvantage was exacerbated by her heels as she had to lower her eyes to meet his.

"I wasn't aware I had a line…" said Katherine sarcastically, peering out of the hangings for emphasis.

Regulus had the good grace to cough instead of snort, "I just think that it's a bit rich of him to come with you when he's snogging my cousin."

The crass word made Katherine blink and flinch simultaneously, a coolness spreading through her at the peculiarity of it being applied to the Head Boy and Girl. Pushing aside her falter, Katherine didn't proceed to divulge the twin switch; feeling more loyalty to Fabian than desire to not perjure herself with an underclassman.

"I doubt the future Mrs Malfoy would feel threatened, but, for your information, I didn't come with Gideon," said Katherine, his name pulling at her heart and jaw.

Her eyes flitted past Regulus' raised eyebrows – so like his brother's, but with more disdain – and sought out the sandy hair and tired smile of Remus Lupin.

"I came with Remus."

Katherine found him snorting with laughter over his goblet, being elbowed by a grinning James, and she, herself, felt her lips tug up on their volition.

"The half-breed?"

Katherine's eyes snapped to speaker of the tart phrase, her half-formed smile crumbling.

Regulus peered out, shoulder to shoulder with Katherine, and ran his tongue along the inside of his teeth with an aloof blink, "I didn't see him being your type."

"Half-breed?" asked Katherine, frowning.

Regulus turned to her, his lips slipping away from his teeth that had a lofty gleam to them, his head of lacquered black hair inclined.

" _Surely_ , you _know_ ," said Regulus, his voice rolling and blooming with haughtiness.

Katherine frowned, and found Remus once more in the crowd – the rose tint of the hangings stirred by a passing party-goer, leaving a sliver in perfect technicolour.

" _Don't_ you?"

Katherine blinked, tucked her hair behind her ears, and returned what she hoped was an unaffected gaze to Regulus.

"That he's a half-blood?" said Katherine, throwing her head back with a laugh she copied from her Aunt, "So what?"

Regulus wasn't fooled, shaking his head and grinning, " _This is too good…_ "

Katherine was barely conscious of her nose fighting to lift, "Why do you want to talk about Remus anyway?"

"Touchy about the boyfriend, are we?" asked Regulus, with a patronising shift of his head.

"He's not my boyfriend," said Katherine, perhaps more quickly that she should have – the prophet article rolling around the back of her mind, "He came with me as a friendly favour."

Regulus nodded with a pulse of his eyebrows in a tandem expression that screamed 'yeah, _right_.'

"Why not come alone?" asked Regulus, "I did,"

Regulus shrugged and returned his gaze to the newly closed off hangings, tinging everything pink once again.

"We could have met up or something…"

"So we could what?" asked Katherine, smiling not out amusement but exasperation, "Meet up behind silk hangings and have more confusing conversations?"

Regulus turned to Katherine, looking every inch of the word he spoke, "Confusing?"

The genuine emotion on his face, that he had aptly named, made Katherine rigid with ire. Every conversation they had ever partaken in flashed through her mind; never complete and always abrupt.

" _Yes_ ; confusing." said Katherine, the sensation of a dagger twisting through her stomach accompanying the words and the thoughts of the woman Katherine seemed to be doing her best impression of in Regulus' company.

Aunt Victoria seemed to be having an encore in Katherine's annoyance. People always did return to what was natural to them in moments of great emotion – their rational thought clouded, and Katherine _had_ been raised by the stern, purse-lipped English woman, even if she tried to practise more kindness and patience than that of which had been extended to her.

"I got too much attention as a child," said Regulus, brushing lint from his velvet sleeves, "It's made me – what do all you Gryffindors call us? Entitled?"

The word was like a bullet out of her smiling lips, "Arrogant."

"That too," Regulus smiled, nodding at her, " _See_ I made you smile, I can't be all that bad."

"Have you seen Katherine?"

The mention of her name jolted Katherine into awareness of the happenings beyond the hangings; a smooth, sandy head of hair and a head of barely tamed jet black passing by within arm's reach.

A cool hand around her elbow alerted her to the fact that her feet had started in the direction of her fellow Gryffindors. The grip was quickly relinquished; so fleeting that she wasn't sure if it burned or iced her.

Regulus stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets, looking either side of himself, "Sorry – that was improper of me, but…just…"

His gulped, shrugging, and watched the going-on's of the party beyond the hangings absently.

"Shake them off, hang out with me instead."

There was something strikingly out of place about the phrase from his lips.

"Why?"

Regulus met her eye, tilting his head, "I want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Ah, Spencer…" said Regulus, sighing and looking around, "Not here."

"Regulus! Katherine!"

Slughorn tweaked his walrus moustache with one hand and rested his other on his stomach that had nudged apart the pink hangings.

"Just the two I was looking for! You two would look dashing in a photograph together!"

Katherine felt caught.

"I should really be getting back to Remus, sir." said Katherine, bowing her head and making to step away.

Slughorn grinned in implication, "Is that why you were convoluting behind the curtain with handsome young Regulus?"

' _Handsome_ ' Regulus mouthed from where he stood behind Slughorn's shoulder.

"You've got the wrong end of the stick, sir –"

"I dare say Mister Lupin will be fine in Mister Potter's company for a few more minutes, now –" cheered Slughorn, cutting Katherine off "– a photograph!"

Slughorn had thrust a camera in to stubby hands of a girl named Dolores in a shocking amount of pink, and she had captured the trio in short moment of smiling and – on Katherine's part at least – nervous laughter.

Before Slughorn could even accept the camera back from the seventh year girl in pink, Regulus' hand was extended gallantly into the charged air.

"Would you care to dance, Katherine?"

Katherine was spared his scrutiny at her fallen open mouth; Regulus having turned to smile courteously at Slughorn.

"Will you allow us to slip away, sir?" asked Regulus, blinking.

It didn't sound anything like a request, to Katherine at least.

Slughorn, mellowed by mead and jubilant students dancing around, simply waved them on with a smile and the parting words of 'be good'.

"You didn't really have to ask," said Katherine with her best effort to not move her lips, still feeling Slughorn's watery eyes on them as she rested her hand atop his and he led her with chivalry Katherine thought long lost to the cleared space for dancing couples, "It was expected of us."

" _Oh_ , trust me, I _did_ have to ask," said Regulus, with restricted movement of his own lips, turning them into a rigid dancing stance, " _It has been a long time since you've been around people of your station, I'm guessing…_ "

"My station?" asked Katherine, glancing around the room – over his velvet shoulder.

A spring of curls ducking up and down from a piece of parchment alerted Katherine to the fact that Rita Skeeter had her hand in another article that would soon, no doubt, replace the rumours of her dating her fellow Gryffindor.

"You have passable etiquette –"

Katherine's eyes moved back to Regulus', finding them so blue she sank beneath the surface for a moment.

"– for muggle standards," amended Regulus.

Katherine kicked back to the surface, redirecting her twisting smile and hum to the happenings behind him.

Regulus' cheek puffed in her peripheral vision, "Proper Pureblood etiquette is more akin to….how would muggles say…Victorian times."

Remembering her instruction, she didn't bother to turn back to him to tell him –

"You've broken protocol then."

She floated and swirled in rectitude at his double take.

"I beg your pardon?"

Katherine reluctantly pulled her eyes away from Remus' that had just risen from his conversation with James; having hoped to convey to him her desire for a rescue as she stepped backwards, sideways, and forwards at Regulus' feet's discretion.

"You approached me, without an introduction or a mutual friend to conduct it, and continued a conversation without a chaperone." said Katherine, in direct quote from the worn etiquette book her Aunt kept on the coffee table.

Regulus stepped backwards, the only hesitance being in his expression of concession, "I did,"

He bowed his head.

"Forgive me," said Regulus, stepping back nimbly in time to the music, "But would you know – out of us – who is of higher rank for introductory purposes?"

Katherine danced forward, a tug at her brow and her memory, "You?"

"You,"

Something unfurled in her chest as Regulus tugged them sideways in their box-step.

"We are of the…s _ame_ pedigree," said Regulus slowly, "but the fact that you are a lady ensures that someone would introduce me to you – only with your permission of course,"

Regulus offered her a pacifying smile.

"And then I would be permitted to, perhaps, kiss your hand if our parents had aspirations for us to be engaged," his hand tightened slightly around her own, before relaxing, almost relinquishing his hold altogether, "but otherwise, I would not be allowed to touch you unless in aid or dancing."

"Do they?"

"Who?"

"Your parents," said Katherine, smiling over his shoulder, "Do they have… _aspirations?_ "

"They will only worry about my prospects once their heir has secured a bride," said Regulus, swiftly and carelessly, "And, although you have one of the purest bloodlines of our generation – not counting my own – the avenue to pursue you is paved with technical pitfalls that outweigh what would be else be a joyous union."

Katherine joined the dots.

"Because of my parents?"

Regulus' eyebrows pulsed, "You have a distinct lack of grandparents too."

Even if they were alive, Katherine didn't think that her muggle Aunt and squib Uncle would count to people like Regulus.

The only thing that passed between them for a moment was music, and Katherine noted that he was counting behind his eyes – her recognising it from when she had first started dancing at functions her Aunt and Uncle allowed her to attend, having done it herself as to not step on anyone's toes. Katherine found it endearing, even if she wasn't supposed to feel anything amicable towards him whatsoever.

"All of this talk… and, really, I still don't know…" Katherine sighed and prepared herself to ask the question she was too embarrassed to even ask Giles, "What _is_ the technical definition of a pureblood?"

"A witch or wizard without any muggle and muggleborn parents or grandparents," said Regulus, not casting her any untoward looks she might have expected, "But without taking a look at his family tree, it's clear that one of _Aubrey's_ –" Regulus nodded towards something over Katherine's shoulder "– parents are muggle."

Regulus artfully twirled Katherine around, allowing her a long glance at where Bertram Aubrey and Lily giggled and whispered over Butterbeer.

"How can you tell?" asked Katherine, losing them in a blur of Lily's purple robes as Regulus turned them back around.

"To begin with," said Regulus, inclining his head so that he and Katherine were cheek to cheek to avoid being overheard, "All of the times that he's met with Evans have been unchaperoned,"

"When he asked her to Hogsmeade, it was without proper notice – if you want to meet on a Friday or Saturday, you have ask before the Wednesday,"

"And that Christmas gift?" said Regulus, with a scoff, nodding at what Katherine assumed was the silver bracelet she had helped Lily clasp earlier that evening, "A costly gift from a gentleman; not family, friend, or one's betrothed; is indelicate – a bribe upon a lady's affection.

"Dinner is being served!" Slughorn's voice boomed over the room.

Regulus slowed his feet, dropped his hold, and proffered his arm once more, "I would like to apologise for stealing you from your date, but as your last dance it's protocol for me to escort you to your seat."

Regulus pulled out a seat for her between Remus and James; across from Lily and Bertram, before taking his own seat next to Bertram. Between eating, and the fact that Narcissa was seated on Regulus' other side, Katherine didn't have much reason to look at her dance partner and thought-provoking acquaintance. It was in the act of not looking at him, that she didn't think of him – or his earlier words to her behind the pink hangings – until everyone was moving off to their dormitories after dessert.

"Regulus!" called Katherine, hastening after the retreating black robes.

She quickened her pace, flicking a wisp of hair from her forehead.

" _REGULUS!"_

His robes swished at his feet as he stilled. His pointed features turned over his shoulder, his feet shuffling to turn the rest of his body.

Regulus raised his eyebrows, blinking slowly, "Yes?"

Katherine felt exasperation swell in the tips of her toes and fingers.

"You wanted to talk with me – earlier." said Katherine, rendered unable to blink by his lack lustre responses.

"Oh," Regulus pulled his shoulders back, smiling distantly, "Yes."

Katherine looked up at him, "Well?"

Regulus' lips pulled and then relaxed.

"Good luck in the Quidditch match on Saturday."

Katherine could have hit him.

"Really?" asked Katherine, rooted to the spot in incredulity, "Is that it?"

" _Really_." Regulus tilted forward at the hips, his hands finding his pockets before he leant back.

Katherine had nothing to say. And, she mused, neither did he. Because he gave her one last amused perusal before he smiled, turned, and strolled away gracefully. His joyful gait suggested he might even start whistling. But he never did.

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading – and sorry for the wait between chapters that has gotten progressively, and almost unforgivably, longer!**

 **I found myself compelled to write Chapter 64 – that's right,** _ **64**_ **– in its entirety when I was fine-tuning my chapter plans in the main word document I have for this story. So, if I don't make it to publishing that far, please know that I have most likely died or something equally as incapacitating – because so long as I'm breathing and cognitively functioning, I will be trying to finish this for you all in the hopes that in reading it you find even a morsel of the joy I find in writing it! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: A Feint

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 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews on Chapter 15! I've been moving house but have been checking in and slowly chipping away at new chapters. I'd like to welcome the new favourites and follows and hope you see enough that you like to stick around! :)**

 _ **beaniebun;**_ **I'm having a moment of indecision myself, so if you were to choose – who would you prefer to see her with? I'll gather a census and perhaps tweak a few things, I'm still at a point in the story where I can change my mind with the love interest. I don't want to do a J.K Rowling (bless her – she is my idol and I love her, so there's no hate here) and just stick with my original pairing idea as a sort of wish fulfilment like she did with Hermione and Ron when you all might see a more obvious pairing than I do (Reading the books, I always shipped Hermione and Harry: both raised by muggles, she always stuck with him and tried to do the best thing by him, etc. – if it's not other people's thing I completely understand, it's just a personal thing of mine I've always clung to). And Tom is coming! Right at the end of fifth year he will make his first proper appearance. Thank you for the review and writing lots – I LIVE for them, I honestly check my stories multiple times a day in case there's a new one.**

 _ **dakotasilverlock;**_ **I straight up squealed, blushed, locked my phone, and then unlocked it and continued reading your lovely words when I got the notification! I have never been complimented on my voice or prose before – I thought I might have simply popped open with joy when I read that!** _ **Thank you, thank you, thank you**_ **for your review!**

 _ **EviColt;**_ **Regulus, indeed, was a bit of turd – wasn't he? Prepare for the Regulus-turd-ness of this chapter. I'm glad the reveal of the secret admirer is highly anticipated, I have a feeling most people will guess it though before it's properly revealed in their seventh year.**

 _ **noturgorl;**_ **Goodness, I love Sirius Orion Black, what a boy – what a man. Whether or not he's the unnamed perspective remains mere speculation as of this minute, so this isn't confirmation on anything but my undeniable crush on a fictional character. Thank you for the sweet reassurance to take my time with the updates – I'm grateful and do try to pace myself relatively well, but I've shared the story with all of you now and I just want to keep giving you all the next bit of the story! :)**

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The first Saturday of December was the coldest day of the year so far and Gryffindor's debut in the inter-house Quidditch matches of the 1975-1976 school term.

Regulus Black's words of encouragement, whether they were sincere or not, urged Katherine to make moves to appease her hair-ruffling and sleeve-pushing Captain; her ghosting her Hufflepuff counterpart, Stebbins, whenever possible to discern any weaknesses.

Although the skies had never been cloudier; in his anxiety, James Potter's glasses had never been cleaner.

It was while visiting Giles for a new schedule for their private lessons that she heard Professor McGonagall wondering on her appointment of James to the post of Captain to Professor Sprout.

"Felix tells me that he hasn't handed in his practice questions on werewolves, and just now I've found out that he hasn't been keeping up with his plant care diary…." said McGonagall, sighing and turning her pursed lips to the window over-looking the Quidditch Pitch, "Maybe I should have appointed someone else…"

Professor Sprout had frowned and opened her mouth, but Slughorn had nudged his pot belly in sideways; tapping his rings and smiling lasciviously beneath his freshly combed moustache.

"Were you not considering Mister Black for the position at the end of last year?" asked Slughorn, lifting one hand from his straining satin vest to twirl his moustache, "In my opinion, the children of that family tend to do well in positions of power..."

Professor Sprout stretched out her ankles on her foot rest, leant back in her chair, and pointedly sipped from her tea cup.

McGonagall pursed her lips and peered over her spectacles; eyes narrowing with cynicism at what Katherine assumed to be Slughorn's pointed enquiry.

"I _did_ consider Mister Black."

"And he _didn't_ meet the requirements?" asked Slughorn, rocking forward on his heels with an undisguised expression of bewilderment.

"He exceeded them," said McGonagall, blinking thoughtfully, "An accomplished flyer, a long term player on the team, outstanding marks in all of his classes…"

"I must say, Minerva," Slughorn edged in, frowning, "I'm not seeing any issue with the boy,"

McGonagall just stirred her tea cup.

Slughorn's watery blue eyes glittered with glee as Katherine saw him latch onto something behind his eyes.

"Unless it's not an issue with the boy…but his –"

"Perhaps you should worry about your own house's Quidditch affairs, Horace," said McGonagall, placing down her tea cup, "Did Mister Avery not just get himself suspended from matches for a whole month?"

Slughorn cleared his throat, bowed his head, sipped from his cup, and turned to get another sugar cube.

"Silly matter really…just a bit excited with his wand was all…"

"Careful, Katherine,"

Her name cast a net over her attention, pulling it back to an ankle-crossed Giles; chin pulled down as he eyed her lightly.

"I might start thinking you're just using me to get the gossip on your classmates."

Katherine's chest folded in on itself, "Oh! Sir – Sorry, I didn't mean –"

"Curiosity isn't a sin," said Giles, lifting his chin to peer down at the schedule in his hand, "Now, as you've missed the foundation lessons on magical creatures your classmates covered in third year, I want you to write essays to hand to me before the commencement of each of your extra lessons on Werewolves, Hinkypuffs, Grindylows…"

Her next extra lesson wasn't until the Monday evening after the Saturday match, so Katherine thought that she would worry about them after the match.

Not only was the match flitting around the edges of facts like ' _a werewolf's snout is shorter than a true wolf's_ ' and ' _Red Caps can be found at sites where blood has been shed and will bludgeon lost muggles and wizards to death_ ', but her friend's incessant questioning over her night at Slughorn's party with Remus Lupin.

The boy in question was being harassed by all of his friends but Sirius Black; who, mercifully to Katherine and Remus, was rarely seen around except in classes or the common room late at night.

Remus, probably thinking himself as doing a service to Katherine, barely talked to her – as if to save her from further speculation. Not that she thought that there should have been any to begin with – if their happenstance meeting in the library on Halloween had remained private.

He gave her apologetic smiles and quick waves in passing.

Katherine returned them, albeit half-heartedly – having another person stolen from her by being the 'Chosen One', although not through murder like her Aunt and Uncle, there not being any interest in her for articles if she were just a normal girl.

So she went to her classes, the library, to Quidditch practise, and then followed Stebbins to the Hufflepuff common room under a disillusionment charm and endeavoured to not get doused in Vinegar by tapping the barrel wrong.

And then the morning of the match was upon her; her eyes snapping open with the rising of the sun, and her stomach closing up and shrivelling up. She dressed, left the dormitory, and found James Potter pacing in front of the window; gazing out at the Quidditch Pitch ever so often and mumbling to himself, and Sirius Black; hair wet and exposing more of his forehead than Katherine had ever seen alone at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

Marlene and Lily traipsed in to be the third and fourth Gryffindors at the table, then King; offering last minute advice to James, and then the other two seventh years on the team; Marcus Brown and Fabian Prewett.

Katherine found accidental solidarity in only being able to stomach a coffee with Sirius Black as they both reached for the ceramic cup of beans. Katherine noted that his hand wasn't shaking like hers, and hoped that he hadn't.

They met eyes, quickly darted away, and each returned to their friends; seeking out different coffee beans around the table.

Marlene didn't share in Katherine's sickness, having a full English breakfast; complete with sausages, scrambled eggs, tomatoes, and bacon.

Lily kept trying to slide Katherine some of her own porridge, which Katherine kept sliding under her napkin as she continuously re-adjusted the collar of her Gryffindor jumper. She wondered if it had always been so tight.

James stood halfway through breakfast; pale and pushing at his glasses.

Katherine glanced at Marlene, then Fabian, and they rose unanimously; knowing it was time to retire to the changing sheds behind the back-patting duo that was Sirius and James.

Upon reaching the changing sheds, Marlene and Katherine went behind the shabby curtains to preserve their modesty as they changed into the special padded trousers included in the uniform; the state of curtains very telling to the fact that girls rarely made the Quidditch teams. When they emerged, Marlene went to chat to King to distract the seventh year from usurping James from Captain duties.

At a loss and trying to not lose her coffee that she had managed to stomach, Katherine's un-blinking, adrenalin-throbbing eyes fell upon Fabian; dressed and going over a play James had drawn up for the two Beaters.

In was in her approach that she watched him pull out his fog watch from his bag of clothes and check it; the surface unblemished.

"I see you got it fixed before Molly saw it." said Katherine, sitting down and knocking his knee with her own at an attempt of indifference to the approaching stair of the match.

Gold flashed against the oil lamps strung up along the shed, and Katherine caught his uneven teeth in his dropped open mouth.

"What?"

Katherine pointed to the watch, "When we spoke at the party, you said you dropped it."

Fabian blinked and let out a nervous laugh – Katherine sure that the approaching match did something even to his usually unflappable demeanour.

"Yeah, the incentive of not having Molly harping on me was enough for me to drop a few galleons," said Fabian, shuffling on the bench and their knees falling away from each other, "So… how was your night at the party?"

Katherine felt a sting of confusion from ear to ear, Fabian had been _there_ –

"Alright, let's get out there and blow their brooms out from beneath their bums!"

Marlene's arm hooked under Katherine's, pulling her up and shoving her broom into her hand on the way to the door.

Katherine couldn't even glance back at Fabian before the door to the pitch was opened; snow and cheering rattling through her eyes and skull.

The tightening of her Quidditch jumper collar reached epic proportions.

Her broom somehow found the seat of her trousers, and she was in the air with the rest of the Gryffindor team, circling the pitch in an echo of the dread circling her stomach.

Marlene had gone to her goal hoops she was to protect for the duration of the game, waving to Lily and Alice where they cheered and waved from at the front of the Gryffindor stands.

Leopoldina Smethwyck, the referee and the flying Professor, was communicating through large gestures with a large man in a moleskin coat in an independent tower where the score charts were. Hagrid was too busy cheering on James and Sirius who had dropped down to high-five him and Peter on their way to the centre of the pitch to notice.

Taking stock of the crowds, Katherine discovered that Jimmy Twills had ventured down from his store in Hogsmeade to watch. Silver-streaked raven hair peeked out from his lifted goggles in the Professor's Tower from where he sat beside Giles. She couldn't see his keen, purple eyes but she was sure they were on her.

"Captains!" shouted Smethwyck, flicking her elaborate braid over her shoulder and squinting behind her comically large goggles, "Shake hands!"

Sirius smacked James on the back one last time as the latter swooped down to the centre to shake hands with a boy two years his senior and with twice his muscle.

"Take your places!"

Katherine rose up above the Chasers, and then the Beaters, to come level with Stebbins above the meat of the match.

"Let the game begin!"

Smethwyck blew her whistle and tossed the Quaffle higher than her bird-boned arm should have been able to. With a tap of her wand, the Bludgers flew out next, growling and on the prowl for victims.

There was a pause as the Chasers scrambled, James in the thick of it with King while Sirius skirted around the outside; streaking away and lifting his arm to catch James' pass without so much as a glance.

There was already a CRACK of a Beater's bat against a Bludger in the distance, in sync with a roll of thunder.

The cheer from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Towers was almost rivalled by the booing from the Hufflepuff and Slytherin Towers.

Smethwyck produced a small glinting object last, no bigger than a galleon from Katherine's distance, and there was a broom-tightening, breath-holding, and glance-exchanging pause for Stebbins and Katherine.

The snitch was released and Katherine found irony in the fact that, although she ghosted him in the hallways in the days leading up to the match, Stebbins was never more than a broom length off her tail twigs during the opening of the game.

Katherine tried barrel rolls, loop-the-loops, and all manner of manoeuvres to try and shake him, but he persevered. His eyes rarely left her. It was in his blinkered focus that Katherine was able to spot the snitch on one of her glances back over her shoulder; hovering a wing's length from Stebbins' yellow-robed shoulder.

Just as she eased her broom around to pursue, unease hooked Katherine by her navel, and her broom fought to leave her hands anyway it could; up, down, side to side. Not only the wood – but _control_ – slipped further and further down her to her fingertips.

" _SPENCER HAS STARTED SOME WEIRD NEW-WAVE MANOEUVRE NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS_ ," announced Gideon, " _PERHAPS EXPERIMENTAL FLYING TECHNIQUES IMPLEMENTED BY THE NEW CAPTAIN?"_

Fabian swooped down, his bat falling to rest on his knee, "What's wrong?"

"It's not me," said Katherine, feeling her skull rattle with the force of the swings, "It's my broom."

" _HUFFLEPUFF USE THE DISRUPTION TO THEIR ADVANTAGE – SLIDING THEIR FIRST GOAL PAST A CONCERNED GRYFFINDOR KEEPER!"_ announced Gideon, _"IT SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY WAY THEY COULD MANAGE ONE AGAINST THIS YEAR'S EXCEPTIONAL GRYFFINDOR SIDE!"_

"I seriously doubt it," said James, trying to catch her tail twigs to stop the jerking only to get whacked in the face by the pointy ends of them, "Your broom is top of the line."

" _HUFFLEPUFF SCORES! AGAIN…_ "

James' glasses flashed against the sun as his gaze drifted towards the goal hoops.

Marlene was drifting off-centre of to watch Katherine.

"No, honestly," Katherine frowned and knitted her fingers together on the underside of her broom to save herself from getting bucked off, "Call a time out – I think it's jinxed."

"Who would jinx your broom?" asked Fabian, squinting under the sun.

Katherine caught two pairs of eyes in one second. James and Sirius had both been privy to her trapping in one of the secret passages that filled with water.

" _POTTER'S CALLED A TIME OUT,_ " announced Gideon, " _AND NOW I DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO THE OTHERWISE SUPERB CALIBRE OF THE NEW ADDITION TO THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM – HEY, THE ONLY THROWING OF OBJECTS IS ON THE QUIDDITCH PITCH, NOT AT YOUR HEAD BOY, GREENGRASS!_ "

"Well… _land_ … or _something_ ," said Marlene, completely abandoning the goal hoops, "You can't very well keep horsing about like that or else you'll get thrown off."

Katherine caught her breath as the wind seemed to stop trying to usurp her, "I think – I think that it's stopped."

"Right, we'll get on with the game," beamed James, ruffling his hair before shooting his hand up into the air to wave down the black-robes of the referee, "Ref!"

" _AND WE'RE BACK UNDERWAY!_ " announced Gideon, " _GRYFFINDOR VERSUS HUFFLEPUFF, SIXTY TO TWENTY!_ "

Katherine squinted and found Stebbins' mustardy robes zipping through the towers; arm outstretched – expression wistful. She squeezed her thighs together, the wood pulling her by the seat of her trousers into the sky above the spectator towers, able to grasp at his tail twigs if she so desired.

" _SPENCER HAS REJOINED THE CHASE FOR THE ILLUSIVE SNITCH!_ " announced Gideon, " _STEBBINS' IS IN TROUBLE WITH BROOM TROUBLES NO LONGER IMPEDING THE NEW GRYFFINDOR SEEKER!_ "

No sooner than Gideon's words blared against Katherine's skull, the chase took a turn – _down_.

Perpendicular to the sand basin of the pitch, Katherine and Stebbins eyed the snitch, each other, and the ever-approaching ground. They didn't slow. Mustard and scarlet robes swirled around them in a sickening display, emerald and navy blotting the already stomach-squelching scene blurring by them.

Katherine's gloved-fingers involuntarily tightened around her broom. _It felt thin_. She remembered the unbreakable braking charm and her practices in pull-ups over the Black Lake with Marlene. _She'd done it a hundred times before_ , she told herself.

A trickle of dread inched down her spine along with another intrusive thought.

 _But never in a game._

A scramble of Chasers split apart in the middle of the pitch for the Seekers. Through the ring of mustard and scarlet robes sped Katherine and Stebbins.

James' glasses flashed in Katherine's peripheral vision…Fabian's gold hair glinted…Marlene's gasp pierced the tunnelling air at Katherine's ear…

 _But she'd never dived from one hundred feet._

Katherine was vaguely aware of the tightened wrists of Stebbins.

The near-transparent tawny wings of the snitch batted, teasing Katherine for allowing herself to be lured into what would be a match-ending crash.

Stebbins' neck and broom pulled up – away.

Gideon said something over the loud speaker, but it was all a faint buzz to Katherine.

She was alone in her pursuit of the ever-plummeting golden snitch when its fluttering wings lifted up on the breeze.

But so did Katherine.

She gripped her broom and gritted her teeth. Her broom, as exhilarated by the chase as Katherine, levelled out; the toes of her boots scraping the sand. The flicked-up-sand caught in her throat, eliciting a cough from Katherine as she reached out a hand – not to cover her mouth – to grasp at the ever receding golden ball.

It went higher and higher, blurring across the turrets of the spectator towers and zipping out of her persistent grasp.

As altitude returned to the chase so did Stebbins – and Katherine's hearing.

" _A WRONSKI FEINT! DID YOU ALL SEE IT? DID YOU ALL SEE IT? BECAUSE YOU WON'T SEE ONE AS CLEAN AS THAT POSSIBLY EVER AGAIN!_ " announced Gideon, " _REGULUS BLACK COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT – AND WE ALL KNOW HE'S GETTING SCOUTED FOR ENGLAND –_ "

The roar of Gryffindor tower, the wind in her ears, and Gideon's announcing was waylaid by a hooking sensation behind her navel. A jerk of her broom in her left hand and a quiver in her throat was all the warning Katherine had before she was thrown violently.

Gasps made the unfurling ball of panic behind her sternum vibrate apart with new intensity – because Katherine hung by her left hand from an inch-thick piece of willow.

" _WHAT'S THIS!? THE GRYFFINDOR'S SEEKER HAS BEEN THROWN FROM HER BROOM?_ " announced Gideon, " _GRYFFINDOR VERSUS HUFFLEPUFF – SIXTY TO TWENTY! IF STEBBINS CATCHES THE SNITCH, IT WILL BE HIS FIRST SNITCH CAPTURE AND HUFFLEPUFF WILL WIN! YOU WOULDN'T READ ABOUT IT, FOLKS…_ "

"Spencer, catch the Snitch or die trying!" shouted James over the wind and the shoulder of the Hufflepuff Chaser blocking him from aiding Katherine.

The growl of a bludger and the burn of the wind against Katherine's face alerted her to the fact that she was very much still in the middle of the game. Random rushes of wind against her robes in the form of her fellow and opponent players made a knot in her abdomen intensify.

 _She had to get back up._

Katherine gritted her teeth and hugged herself to her upside-down broom with her arms. The contact the wood had to her front was enough for her to bring it under her command once again. The broom took off, pulling her the right way up, and Katherine kept low to her broom as she followed the glint of gold back up to the tops of the Ravenclaw spectator Tower.

Just as the wings of the snitch flapped against her fingertips once again, her broom started to quiver – the tell-tale sign that the jinxing offender was at it again. In an act of pure will, Katherine edged her broom out in front of Stebbins' and snatched the snitch from the air, only breathing again when the metal was snug in her sweaty grip.

There was a pause – a heart squeezing, eye hollowing, pause; filled only with deafening disbelief.

" _SPENCER'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH – GRYFFINDOR WINS!_ " announced Gideon, his voice journeying from awe to elation in the space of six words.

Roars erupted from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers while booing simultaneously met the air from the Slytherin and Hufflepuff towers.

Katherine couldn't find it in herself to celebrate; her eyes hunted for the culprit, and they didn't even need to leave the Slytherin tower.

 _Who else would have done it but Greengrass?_

After less than a second of perusal, Katherine found Greengrass' pointed features beneath a green and silver woollen hat. The Slytherin was scowling in the usual Slytherin fashion; leagues beyond haughty. Katherine thought that she might like to spell something into Greengrass' mouth for her to choke on instead of shouting and booing Katherine.

Regulus' unflinching gaze from behind Greengrass' woollen hat didn't go unnoticed by had wished her _luck_. And she now knew why.

Feeling as if she'd rather dissolve into the sky, Katherine found the ground. Her broom had barely been dismounted when a flash of jet black hair was in front of her. Glasses glinting; James' calloused grip was swiftly upon her shoulders, and his lips were upon her cheeks – repeatedly, bruisingly.

"We did it – we won!" cried James, releasing Katherine and linking arms with a gold-haired twin and dancing around in a circle.

At the pure glee on her Captain's face, Katherine's heart fought to lift off from the depths of her melancholy; her lips tugging up, and a laugh wrestling out of her throat.

It was when another laugh chorused with hers that, in a mess of arms and hair, Sirius slowed by Katherine in James' wake. King had just pulled the neat waves into a head lock, and lowered his own head in a bruising forehead kiss on the younger boy. Sirius turned to embrace the next person, locked eyes with Katherine, and paused.

With a gulp and a quick smile, Sirius' arm rose up and his palm enclosed her shoulder.

It was like fire and water, the happenstance touch causing an intangible, invisible, frigid smoke to rise from their skin and tension to ghost across the backs of their necks. Their eyes skittered, Sirius' legs following his glittering orbs of glass to his friends; colluding by the changing sheds.

Katherine's attention was ripped away from the fifth year boys – and her hand was ripped away from her side – when King stopped in front of her; both of his hands encasing her right one and rattling her shoulder in its socket in the guise of a handshake.

"Excellent work! Really excellent Work! We haven't won a game with a snitch catch in nearly a year –"

Katherine listened half-heartedly to compliments on her skill, her eyes still rifling through the bobbing heads passing them to see what the fifth year Gryffindor boys were doing.

"Wormy –"

"It's really not fair that you all got cool nicknames and I –"

"Not the time, mate." said Sirius, his hand clamping down on Peter's shoulder in a firm pat.

Katherine's own shoulder twitched in memory, before an arm slid along it and quietened the tension; gold-lacquered nails anchoring on her shoulder and dark curls tickling her damp neck.

"McKinnon…"

King's voice finally rang through Katherine's ears clearly at the inclusion of the familiar name in the barrage of praise.

Marlene's arm tightened around Katherine, and began pulling her around King, "Sorry, King – Katherine needs to be advised of the festivities!"

Katherine barely had time to throw an apologetic smile over the shoulder that barged into the burly seventh year's shoulder before he was lost in the crowd.

"I think Potter wasn't expecting us to win," said Marlene, head low and voice loud and nearly lost in the chatter entombing them, "He and Black didn't sneak down to Hogsmeade last night like they usually do…really, they probably would have needed to drown their sorrows anyway if they lost…"

Katherine tried to keep up, conversationally and in stride, with her shorter friend.

"But I've just spoken to Lily – who has spoken to Remus, who, well… those boys are all thick as thieves – you get the picture – so there's going to be a post-feast feast; Butterbeer…cakes from the kitchens…"

Katherine's mind slipped, skipping over a few of Marlene's details as her eyes caught of the approaching shoulders of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

"And, Peter, seriously?" asked Remus, gesturing to himself before hastily shoving his hands back into his snow-dusted jacket, " _Moony_."

Peter shrugged, tucking his hands beneath his arm pits and kicking a lump of snow, _"It's still kind of cool…"_

Letting herself be pushed and pulled by the steady stream of students and Marlene's firm grip, Katherine felt a tremendous distance between herself and the happy scene bubbling and blurring around her. The earth only came rushing back up to her feet with startling intensity when her eyes grazed past an emerald and silver woollen hat.

Her appendix might have exploded with rage if a slicked back head of inky hair didn't swoop by the soft material at that very moment.

Rage was replaced with a peeling sensation in her left shoulder; burning and chilling her all the same. Nothing was wrong with her feet, however, and they moved after the source of her wound.

"Katherine!" she heard Marlene yelling after her.

But Katherine was deaf to anything but the blood thumping through her veins.

"KATHERINE!" Marlene had tried again before Katherine ducked inside of the double doors of the Great Hall.

Katherine hadn't taken off her Quidditch robes or even put down her broom. She was surprised that her grip on her broom hadn't snapped it.

"Where is she going?" Katherine heard Marlene ask as she stomped up the Slytherin table.

"The Slytherin table by the looks of it." Emmeline had answered Marlene drily.

Katherine could care less how she looked to her friends or people who she only knew in passing. She was livid. And coming to a stop.

"Did you know?" demanded Katherine.

Half of the Slytherin table were watching her. Somewhat curious, but largely like Katherine was something they scraped off the bottom of their shoe.

Regulus blinked up at her.

"What?" asked Regulus, frowning and putting down his goblet of pumpkin juice.

" _Did_. You. _Know?_ " repeated Katherine, feeling her voice grow alongside the heat in her cheeks.

"I think Spencer's gone round the bend!" laughed Greengrass.

The table laughed with Greengrass and it only served to make Katherine angry without abandon.

"Oh, _shut_ your great _big_ gob, _Greengrass!_ " thundered Katherine, surprising herself, "I know what _you_ did!"

" _What did she do?"_

" _I don't know– must be bad…"_

" _Slit git Slytherins…"_

Regulus stood and cleared his throat, not meeting any of his peers' eyes.

"I think we should take this to the Entrance Hall." said Regulus, with a hand on Katherine's elbow.

Katherine ripped her elbow from his hot grasp and crossed her arms while tucking her broom under her armpit.

"Fine." said Katherine, feeling her chin lift as she immediately hastened back down the large room to the Entrance Hall.

She felt Regulus in her wake, knowing he had his head down without sparing a glance back.

She couldn't share the same shame.

Stepping outside of the Great Hall, Katherine turned and waited; arms still crossed. She watched Regulus close the double doors on the prying eyes of the entire school body with some effort with his short wingspan in comparison to the doors.

He turned and sighed, "Alright, go ahead."

"Did you know?"

Regulus scrubbed at his face before running both hands through his hair.

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific, I know a lot of things." said Regulus lightly; lips curved.

The words she knew that she had to speak made her eyes burn. Something she didn't expect to happen. But she had been humiliated. It was her first match and she let James down, making everyone think she couldn't even stay on her broom.

"Did you know about Greengrass trying to tamper with my broom?" asked Katherine, gulping away the crack in her voice.

Too many different emotions flashed across Regulus' face at once for Katherine to just discern one.

Regulus frowned, surprise colouring his voice, " _Greengrass?_ "

Katherine felt her eyelids almost completely peel back in her incredulity, nodding and feeling her arms flail on their own accord.

"Yes! The great ugly bint in the year above you!" Katherine wiped her increasingly-wet nose on her Quidditch jumper sleeve, "So, did you know – or what?"

"Why do you think _I_ would know?" asked Regulus, leaning back and regarding her tear-stained cheeks with visible discomfort.

Katherine shook her head at his lack of helpfulness.

"Was it a warning?" asked Katherine, stepping closer to him.

Regulus took a step back, "Was what a –"

"When you wished me luck!" cried Katherine, her arms defying gravity on their own accord, "Why couldn't you have just _told_ me?"

Regulus didn't speak. But his eyes did. He knew something – but he wasn't going to tell her.

At once she was reminded of the raised eyebrows and lead-hued stare of his older brother; always observing, judging, but never intervening. Not on Katherine's behalf anyway.

" _You're just like your brother.._." laughed Katherine, incredulous, and took to rubbing between her eyebrows.

Regulus leant close to Katherine's face and his mouth twisted.

"I'm _nothing_ like my brother." spat Regulus, whipping around and stalking away.

It happened so quickly that Katherine was left staring after him, wondering if he had apparated instead of walking like normal underage wizards.

Normal underage witches, however, giggled and didn't apologise when they slid past a frozen Katherine in the hallway; whispering, and all but skipping in the direction of the grand staircase.

"Did you see him today – in the match?" sighed the navy-robed Dorcas Meadowes before groaning and letting her head fall back, " _What I'd give to share a changing shed with him every day…_ "

"He is _so_ fit," Katherine recognised the girl arm in arm with Dorcas to be Bertha Jorkins, "I bet he'd even look good in one of those Azkaban identifiers – did you see the one in yesterday's paper of Malfoy's dad?"

"It's no wonder now why he didn't make Head boy…"

Katherine begrudgingly fell into step behind the girls, realising that they were also heading in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

She tried not to listen, vehemently, but as talk turned to which boy on the Gryffindor team they would most like to snog, it became more difficult. Katherine, fearing that she would never be able to look Sirius or James in the eye again after hearing a detailed appraisal of their trouser bulges, all but leapt over the girls on the final staircase to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Yellow Submarine!" Katherine all but shouted, remembering Lily agonising over what to use for the password before picking up one of her records.

The Fat Lady raised a prim brow before sweeping her hand across her frame that popped out from the wall, granting Katherine passage.

As she clambered over the hole in the wall, she heard the Ravenclaw girls' stare rather than saw it.

" _Was that –_ "

" _Do you think she –_ "

Katherine distanced herself from the girls' aloud wonderings, and had to come to a screeching halt in her escape – just shy of the end of the tunnel to the common room.

Garlands of holly from the stash of recently banished Christmas decorations were strung up around the circular room, along with Gryffindor banners – the odd scarf thrown over end tables and the backs of couches. Lion-adorned flags blazed high on the chandelier, enchanted to look as if in wind, and people had spelled the lions on the tapestries to roar whenever passed. One particular lion was letting out a rioting growl as King and a sixth year Gwenolg Jones pressed against it and each other.

James Potter was in the thick of the celebrations, much like he was always in the thick of scrambles on the Quidditch Pitch; making declarations of victory and boozed-up promises. Much of the Gryffindor team surrounded him, either encouraging him or shaking their head – and in Sirius Black's case; both.

Katherine edged around the clusters of gleeful students, searching for her friends.

She found Lily's blaze of red hair first; leaning on an alcove, gnawing away at her lip, and chewing out the ears of underage students with their hands around strangely fizzing goblets. But she was smiling resignedly, throwing back her head to laugh at whatever Alice had whispered from beneath Frank's arm.

It seemed that _everyone_ was enjoying themselves; _Emmeline_ and Marlene laughing as they cleared the chess board haphazardly to perch upon and watch out upon the common room from. It was then, watching the unusually chummy and chipper Gryffindor girls that Katherine's eyes fell to the window on their left.

The only person who seemed to be just as resigned to night as Katherine was wearing a maroon jumper and nursing a goblet of Butterbeer by the window; fluffy hair tilted back against the snow-frosted glass.

"Hello, Remus – how are you?"

Remus' head rolled against the window, and he blinked and smiled up at Katherine.

"Fine – except for this headache," said Remus, shrugging and slowly lifting his goblet to his lips, "Comes and goes,"

A rush of cool air passed behind Katherine, and she turned to catch the wash-worn green jumper of Sirius Black.

"Oh, look –"

Katherine turned back to find Remus' eyes glinting, the same pale shade of green as Sirius' jumper in his tiredness.

Remus raised his goblet towards Sirius' retreating back, "– there it is."

"You looked pretty great – in the match…all those saves…"

Katherine glanced up from the fortress of resign she and Remus had begun in their unity by the window, unsure if such words could come from Emmeline Vance's pinched lips.

Marlene leant back slightly from where she and Emmeline sat hip to hip on the cleared chess table, recovering much faster than Katherine.

"It's almost as if I'm good at what I do." said Marlene, blinking and peering out over the room in a contrived unaffected manner.

Emmeline's eyes bulged, emphasized by her tight pony tail, "I didn't mean –"

"I know," Marlene smiled into her goblet as she swirled her drink, hesitating before lifting it to her lips, "Thanks."

"We're definitely in the running for the house cup and the Quidditch cup."

Marlene lowered her goblet to her knee, making a face around her mouthful of mead, " _Of course…_ "

Katherine watched her friend sigh, shake her head, and then find her right beside her – closer than the mead had allowed her to judge.

"Katherine!" Marlene jumped to her feet, crossing to Katherine in half a step and gripping her arm, "You need a drink!"

 _Marlene_ , it seemed to Katherine, _was the one who needed a drink_.

But a silver goblet was thrust into her hand, sloshing the signature froth over the curved silver lip and down Katherine's knuckles.

Katherine didn't want a drink. She didn't want to move, or to speak. She wanted to rest, to lean. She felt so very unspeakably tired.

As she sat in the squashiest arm chair in the common room, directly opposite the fireplace, Katherine's mind turned back to the only other place she had ever called home. She found that the rectangular townhouse that was Number Twenty-Four Claremont square was no longer the place of regiment and cool regard she'd always thought it before she discovered magic, but a distant dream of consistency and ease.

 _But_ , supposed Katherine as she took a sip of Butterbeer froth, _even if she could return, she wouldn't belong there anymore._

Sitting adjacent to her curly haired friend, their red-haired friend also traipsing over from her conversation with Alice, Katherine felt out her new normal; enchanted flags, roaring lion tapestries, and an amplified record player included.

A dark wizard that murdered her parents attempting to track her down, a dedicated bully in the hallways of Hogwarts, and her over-bearing exams watered down any feelings of unadulterated happiness that Katherine might have found in belonging somewhere.

She had put herself even further out on the fringes of her new folk that very evening. When she had done the very thing her Aunt had always despised. She let her emotions lead her.

Lily's eyes lifted from the pillow she'd clutched to her front upon sitting, and the green folded around Katherine like a warm dough.

It seemed that Katherine and Lily could go in and out of each other's minds without effort.

"Maybe you shouldn't have yelled." said Lily, swirling her goblet and gently frowning at Katherine over it.

Marlene snorted, adjusting her shirt to hide her chest; too full for the v-neck long sleeve, "Nah, they deserved it."

Lily's head swung to Marlene; eyes accusing.

"You don't even know what they did."

"Well, _no_ ," said Marlene, looking up from her shirt-adjusting and shrugging, "But I'm sure Katherine's anger was well-founded."

Katherine hummed, barely containing her bitterness, "Greengrass jinxed my broom."

Lily's crimson-painted-nails blurred in her periphery to place her goblet down on the table.

"Katherine –"

"And she tried to drown me in that passage," said Katherine, cutting Lily off and beginning to lift her fingers to count, "Locked me in a cupboard with Devil Snare –"

"You don't know that it was her for sure." said Lily in one breath, her thin eyebrows pulled together.

"Who else would have done it?" asked Katherine, tucking her hair behind each ear in turn with one hand, the other occupied by her goblet; leaning forward all the while.

"She has a point." said Marlene lightly, her eyes straying to where Alice and Emmeline giggled loudly in the corner.

Lily sighed, "Not you too."

Marlene turned back, blinking slowly and raising her round arches.

"Someone else has to have Katherine's back."

Lily's eyes flashed.

" _Hey!_ " said Lily, sitting up straighter to abandon the pillow she was leaning on, pointing, " _That's_ not _fair_ –"

Marlene scoffed, still with her knees tucked up beneath herself and her goblet resting precariously on her knee, "Neither is taking those bastards' side."

"I'm not taking their side –" said Lily, turning to Katherine, "– Katherine, please understand that I'm just trying to –"

"Do your prefect duty by being fair and just," said Katherine, sighing and offering Lily a pacifying, albeit half-hearted, smile, "I know."

"I _do_ have your back, Katherine," Lily sat back against the couch, frowning across at her friend, "I was even trying to do a counter-jinx today."

"And it didn't work?" asked Marlene, pausing her goblet just short of her mouth.

"Greengrass' jinx was too strong," Lily frowned, shaking her head, "I even think she was doing it non-verbally…"

"Hey, Katherine?" asked Marlene, shuffling her legs out from beneath herself, her quaffle-covered green socks touching down on the common room carpet.

Katherine lifted her eyes from the ottoman where a large, blank piece of parchment was folded up, "Yes?"

Marlene one-handedly detangled the back of her hair in a claw-like motion as she regarded Katherine.

"Why _were_ you mad at Sirius' little brother?"

Embarrassment and confusion at the memory of the confrontation brewed through her, rolling like potatoes at a boil.

"Well, er…" Katherine hesitated, her eyes shifting between her two friends, "He wished me luck for the match at the Christmas Party, saying that I would need it... I should have known, really."

Lily shifted her hair behind her shoulders before folding her hands together on the pillow back in her lap, her knees and ankles together, "I really don't think that you should have snapped at him, Katherine."

"Why not?" Katherine lightly shook her head, feeling her lip tremble and hiding her eyes in case they betrayed her and leaked, "He just _stood_ there while it was happening –"

"He was doing a counter-jinx too."

"He…" Katherine broke off, unfurling layers of emotion hitting the floor of stomach in swift succession; surprise, guilt, and then awed gratitude, "He was?"

"He was muttering _something_ and he _wasn't_ breaking eye contact…" Lily slowly nodded as she spoke, "It all makes sense..."

Katherine's shoulders gave out and she slung an arm across her eyes and let her neck fall into the curvature over the back of the couch, "Oh, I feel even more rubbish now…."

"Maybe you could try and apologise?"

The clearing of a throat startled Katherine further than Lily's words had, and Katherine removed her arm from her eyes.

Sirius weaved in through furniture to pocket the blank piece of parchment on the ottoman. He quickly re-joined a laughing Frank and James by the record player and accepted a new goblet that didn't have the signature froth of Butterbeer, but rather a sizzling red colour that jumped up from the goblet as the drink crackled and fizzed.

"Or maybe she could try and swim with the Giant Squid instead?" suggested Marlene, leaning back and dizzily focusing on the carvings on the round ceiling.

* * *

The Giant Squid, Katherine found out the following day, breached into sight more often than Regulus Black.

While people were clutching at their heads during Breakfast, James Potter was clutching at straws at the double doors with Alexander Wood; trying to secure the pitch for extra practices to continue a winning streak. Not that he told Wood that.

"You saw her get thrown from her broom, hit for six – isn't that what the muggles say?" said James, "Well, she's right out of it – could use the extra time to get back on her broom and recover."

Wood frowned, "I _did_ see it –"

"Good lad – thanks a bunch – I best be off to Charms." steamrolled James, turning and parading off in the direction of the mentioned classroom.

Katherine, indeed, thought that he could use some further instruction in his charms, but not the kind that required a wand.

While Wood kept trying to chase down a suddenly illusive James Potter all day, Marlene helped Katherine chase down a characteristically reclusive Regulus Black.

It was as they followed him after breakfast for a walk around the Black Lake, to the boys' lavatory after every class, to the courtyard at lunch where he avidly perused a broom magazine, and ran beneath his broom during his afternoon fly before dinner; that Katherine realised that he always found _her_ – he knew _her_ schedule – but she had known next to nothing about him.

She was surprised by how normal he was – if not weak-bladdered. _No doubt from all the tea he drank_ , Katherine discovered as she and Marlene followed him from where he had been couped up in the library with an endless tea cup and stacks of books from the end of dinner to the ever-approaching curfew.

It was in trying to keep a few broom-lengths off of the back of Regulus' emerald-lined robes that Marlene and Katherine had to pause in an offset hallway as the boy bent over to tie his shiny oxfords.

While waiting and watching for the Slytherin robes, they weren't aware of the red and navy set whispering furiously in an alcove until their conversation went beyond whispering proportions.

"You need to do something about that Potter."

At the surname, Marlene and Katherine met each other's eyes; brown and green flashing in piqued solidarity.

"Potter?"

The voice was unmistakeable as belonging to their red-headed friend, and Regulus rising to his feet once again was only vaguely acknowledged.

"He just struts around and takes the Quidditch pitch –"

"Wood took it from him first."

"I thought that you were supposed to be _my_ girlfriend?"

"I am your –" Lily's arm poked out of the alcove in a gesture of exasperation. "What does _that_ have to do with anything?"

"You're supposed to be on my side in everything," said Bertram, his shadow towering over Lily's even in the blue-dark, "Gryffindor loyalties disregarded."

"There are more important things in life than bloody Quidditch!"

"Not when the next match is just after Christmas!"

Katherine sighed, shaking her head and poking it out of the hallway to see Regulus strolling down it; almost a speck in the distance. Her heart as heavy as bludger in panic, Katherine nudged Marlene's shoulder and moved off, but, feeling only the cool night air against her side, Katherine turned back to find Marlene; her ear still trained to Lily and Bertram's conversation.

"What are you two girls doing out this close to curfew?"

The new voice brought them both back to attention, shoulder to shoulder once more in combined surprise and in the face of their Head Boy.

Katherine might have feinted if Marlene wasn't there; she and Gideon hadn't spoken since the last Hogsmeade weekend.

Marlene checked her watch, squinting in the scarce light, "It's curfew?"

Gideon squinted gently back down at the flimsy deflective statement, tilting his glinting head of gold.

Katherine gulped, knowing he'd poke holes soon enough. So she prepared herself to speak the first words to him since the ever-underwhelming ' _Oh_ ' that they'd parted with.

"We just got back in from a fly," lied Katherine, wishing she could have closed her eyes when his found her beside Marlene, "Testing my broom after Saturday's disaster, you know…"

"Saturday – was it…" Gideon broke off, checked either side of himself, and leant down to whisper, "Was it something to do with what happened to us in the secret passage?"

Marlene stiffened next to Katherine, "Yeah, she's cursed – has someone trying to do her in at breakfast everyday – but we have to go right now,"

Confused, Katherine turned to her friend to catch a significant look, her head bobbing discreetly down the hall.

"Curfew and all…things will be _black_ for us if a professor catches us…" continued Marlene, smiling like she'd prefer to be on her way to a bathroom and not exiting a conversation.

A pinch was hidden in the recesses of their winter cloaks, and a pinch was felt in Katherine's chest as Regulus was no longer visible; her legs moving to give her a better vantage point while Marlene said their farewells to Gideon and kept an eye out for Lily and Bertram possibly spilling out of the alcove.

"Look," Gideon caught Katherine's arm, inclining his head and whispering, "I understand if you don't feel comfortable coming to me after what happened in Hogsmeade…"

His touch burned her already warm skin, his words reigniting the pulling sensation in her jaw and stomach.

"I just really wasn't planning on attending Slughorn's party _at all_ … with _anyone_ ," continued Gideon, clearing his throat and raising one shoulder, "But…you know…you are a bit younger than me as well…"

"It's okay." lied Katherine, wishing she were dead and buried somewhere.

"Hey, Gideon," said Marlene, hooking her arm through his and pointing with the other, "Are those third years harassing the Grey Lady?"

Marlene's face was the perfect picture of interest, but her thumb was jutting violently behind her back in the direction of the courtyard.

Katherine got the message, inching away until she was sure that Gideon was absorbed in Marlene's ploy. She went flagstone by flagstone until he wouldn't notice if she completely slipped into the torchless areas of the hallway, and sought out a boy with a name just a dark as the light-absent stretches.

"Regulus!"

He didn't even flinch. He just continued around the corner.

Katherine picked up the pace, hoping Filch wasn't going to pop of out somewhere and give her a detention for running in the hallways. And when she rounded the corner, she barely took stock of the empty hallway before shouting his name again.

"REGULUS!–"

Hands grabbed her wrists and pulled her behind a pillar in the courtyard.

"Would you stop shouting my bloody name!?" hissed Regulus, checking both ways down the hallway.

"Sorry." said Katherine, looking down at where he held her wrists.

"So?" asked Regulus, with wide, exasperated eyes as he dropped her wrists, "What do you want this time?"

Katherine thought she might spontaneously dissolve with the sudden bubbling in her veins, and couldn't stop her mouth from opening.

"That's a bit rich, coming from –"

His raised eyebrows stopped her from finishing her sentence. Instead, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a short moment.

"Look," Katherine opened her eyes and frowned, looking down at her shoes, "I…I just wanted to apologise for comparing you to Sirius,"

Something indecipherable slipped over his face.

Katherine gulped at the bigger hole she had dug herself before working harder to earn back his favour.

"I didn't think that it would set you off, you two _are_ very alike…you know… having grown up together and everything…"

Katherine shrugged and struggled to hold his gaze, and thought that Regulus might have recently sucked a lemon if she hadn't occupied the previous minutes of his time.

"I'm sure that all of you Gryffindors think that him being the first Black to not be in Slytherin makes him great or something," said Regulus, with mean amusement, "But he's not,"

Regulus cleared his throat and fixed his eyes on the translucent fat Friar floating past the courtyard.

"And I don't want to be compared to him – _ever_." said Regulus, his eyes hard and still evading Katherine's.

"And here I was,"

Katherine turned to see Sirius pushing off from the stone of a shadowed alcove.

"About to wish you a happy birthday."

As his older brother neared him, Regulus began looking behind himself.

"Oh, sod off, Sirius." muttered Regulus, crossing his arms.

Sirius slowed to a stop next to Katherine and looked at Regulus with a severe smile, tucking a piece of parchment into his trouser pocket.

"No, no," said Sirius, in a deceptively calm tone, crossing his arms, "I want to hear what you have to say about how un-great I am."

Regulus squinted behind Katherine's head.

"I don't think that you do." said Regulus, his voice quiet with dark promise.

Sirius shook his head and laughed coldly.

"No," said Sirius, with feigned courtesy, "I insist."

"Fine!" snapped Regulus, his eyes considering Sirius caustically, "If you were so great and brave, why did you turn your back on me as soon as I was sorted into Slytherin?"

Sirius opened his mouth almost immediately, his eyes flashing, "I –"

"EVERYONE THINKS WE'RE ALL DARK ARTS-OBSESSED-DUNGEON-BATS _AND WE'RE NOT!_ " Regulus continued, pointing at Sirius, "We're not!"

Sirius cleared his throat, blinking slowly.

"Well it's the way it seems," said Sirius, his voice steadily rising, "You haven't done anything to prove to me that you haven't been up to your eyeballs in the dark arts all this time."

Regulus bit out a loud laugh, rolling his eyes.

" _I_ had to show _you_?"

Regulus squinted at Sirius, laughing again.

"Show an interest in your family, Sirius!" cried Regulus, incredulously, "Because of you, I've had to –"

Regulus' eyes had never been wider.

Sirius' eyes had never clamped shut so bracingly.

"To what, Reg?"

Regulus shook his head, narrowing his eyes again, "So _now_ you care?"

Sirius continued to bore into Regulus with his eyes.

"Sod this, I'm done…"

When Regulus turned, Sirius moved for the first time in a long time.

"Don't you _dare_ walk away, Regulus," said Sirius, barely restrained rage wobbling his voice, "We're _not_ done!"

Katherine was rooted to the spot, rendered unable to speak or move by Sirius' cold rage. She could only watch as Sirius grabbed Regulus' arm and yanked him back around roughly.

Regulus' eyes widened for a split second before anger took them over once more.

"It's funny, for someone who hates his family –" Regulus ripped his arm from Sirius' hold, "– you sure sounded a lot like our dear old mum just then."

Katherine watched Sirius both simultaneously crumble and remain completely unmoved.

Regulus hesitated, something akin to a pendulum swinging behind his eyes – a pause in his sneer – but he narrowed his eyes, turned, and stalked away.

Sirius turned back to Katherine and sighed, running a hand through his hair before looking away again.

"Sorry about him."

"Funny, that's what he usually says about you."

Regulus didn't track down Katherine to utter the expected words belatedly – or anything at all for that matter. Neither brother, in fact, was particularly loquacious when in proximity of Katherine in the day that followed. Not speaking to each other, however, was normal for the two Blacks; their row didn't deliver them from their routine indifference to one another.

Katherine took notes on Belladonna, finished her werewolf practice test, and waited for one of the coltish, dark-haired boys to step on a land mine of loaded teenage angst. The only remarkable event linked to either light-footed boy took place in potions; the hair-raising potion proved too tempting and coaxed James and Sirius away from hexing Bertram Aubrey and back to their old Snape-taunting-habit.

It just so happened to be fitting retribution – in James' eyes, at least – for Snape leering over James' notes with his wand and eyes set malevolently on them.

But the fiasco awarded Snape some hard-won attention from Lily Evans who immediately offered to brew the antidote for a N.E.W.T student-inundated Slughorn.

"Mix the antidote alright?" asked Katherine when Lily returned to the common room, keeping her tone light and her eyes trained loosely on both of friends – anticipating the familiar fall over the Slytherin.

"Yeah," Lily sighed, falling down into the couch, "I can't help but wish they'd give Severus a break again..."

Lily closed her eyes, one hand swinging listlessly through the air and the other focusing her self-restraint on her nose-bridge pinching fingers.

"They could go back to hexing Bertram or whatever…"

Marlene's head lifted, "I thought he was your boyfriend?"

Lily remained constant in her hard-won composure.

"He is a right ponce sometimes as well."

"Then maybe he isn't for you."

Lily's hands fell; one to arm of the couch – the other to her lap.

"Why are you always saying things like that?" asked Lily, frowning and shaking her head at Marlene.

Marlene didn't shrug like expected, but, rather, sat up straighter and squinted, "I just want to know why you're dating him when you're always ragging on him."

"I'm with him, because…"

"Because?" prompted Marlene, eyebrows raised and eyes blinking.

"Well…" said Lily, trying again and looking around at the carpet as if to glean the answers from the spirals, "We both have good knowledge of the muggle world…"

"What about Quidditch?" asked Marlene, leaning forward further and squinting harder, "What about exploding snap, gobstones - wizard's chess?"

Lily sat back, her hands rising up before falling to her knees with an audible _SLAP_ , "Why don't you date him then?"

Marlene's eyes journeyed to the far window, and her neck tilted her furrowing eyebrows away.

"Because he didn't want me."

Lily spluttered, "You…you…"

Marlene turned back with a hard smile.

" _Yeah_."

"This whole time… you've been bitter over him choosing me over you?" asked Lily, rising to her feet, "How immature – how…"

Lily shook her head, turning to the staircase leading up to the dormitories.

"I can't even look at you right now…" said Lily, flinging a hand behind her as she stormed up to the dormitories in a swirl of red and rage.

Marlene was on her feet next – not to follow Lily, but to make for the portrait hole.

Katherine; unable to follow either of her friends without it being advertised as picking a side, instead picked up an abandoned magazine on the end table to busy herself until dinner. At once, it fell open – and at once, Katherine was taken back to the Sunday mornings when her Uncle would leave the very same ' _Just Cars_ ' magazine by the toilet.

The gleam of the glossy parchment…The clicking of the sticky spine…

Only once she overcame her nostalgia did Katherine notice the circle of ink around a run-down 1959 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle and the underlined telephone number and a scribbled ' _pick up on July 31_ _st_ _– Paul's Auto Barn, Kensington_ '.

Katherine traced the lazy cursive letters, taken by the way 'K' curled elegantly and wondered if she could recreate it when writing her own name –

"The last time I checked, that magazine didn't come with a brail option."

Her ribs jumped inside her skin.

Fingers fumbling the magazine, Katherine fought her own alarm to close it. She whirled around, her stomach copying her neck and shoulders as green met grey.

Sirius stood on the last step of the staircase to the boys dormitories; arms crossed, ankles crossed, and eyes blinking slowly. Eyes that fell from Katherine as his arms fell to his sides, his legs strolling leisurely around the furniture like it were a haphazard maze.

"Oh!" said Katherine, holding out the magazine and gulping, "Er, is this _yours_?"

Sirius paused; his side to Katherine and his lips slipping up.

He turned, and his eyes needled through Katherine once again, "I bought it; _yes_ ,"

Sirius' knees bent and the couch caught his graceful collapse, his hand flicking through the air before he picked lint from his trousers to a symphony of footsteps on one of the staircases.

"But I don't have any use for it anymore," Sirius shrugged, his gaze slipping sideways to Katherine once more – heavy-lidded, "So knock yourself out."

"No, you're supposed to _read_ them, Padfoot,"

Despite the new addition of James, Katherine's eyes were drawn to the floor. She was suddenly unsure if she had never noticed that he had a foot deformity, only to find his usual un-polished new oxfords.

"And what's this about brail?" asked James, lifting Sirius' legs and landing in the overstuffed piece of furniture with a _SQUELCH_ of leather and a concerned glance at Katherine, "You haven't had any signs of sight loss, have you –"

James went on to recommend no less than three reputable wizarding optometrists and to ideally check in with Madam Pomfrey before the next Gryffindor practise.

Katherine didn't need to get her eyes checked to see that her two friends were no closer towards resolution at dinner. Or the following one. The louder the enchanted suits of armour's singing got as they – wrapped in tinsel – chased down students, and the heavier the snow packed on the grounds, the scarcer options became for Katherine to partake in a non-side-deciding-activity when not in classes.

Lily easily paired off with Alice, getting Alice to rattle of questions from a small handbook with steely sharp letters spelling out ' _Department of Main Roads and Transport – A comprehensive guide to getting your Learners License_ '.

Marlene, not willing to risk Emmeline's increasingly frostier demeanour as Christmas closed in around them all (and removed one more milestone between them and their O.W.L's), took the path of least resistance in seeking the company of her cousin, Marcus.

Katherine spent the afternoons at Quidditch practise with Marlene and the early evenings in the library with Lily. The unofficial agreement worked splendidly – unless, when in transit between the activities, she found herself stalled in a hallway between her friends.

It was after one too many particularly frosty encounters, that Katherine considered her other options for companionship.

The thought of Giles crept in – almost as if through an innocuous space behind her ear – in tandem with a pang of anxiety for what the warming weather meant. The leeching gloom of Summer holidays usurped Katherine's ability to indulge in a silly matter of an argument among friends.

Insecurity quivering in the depths of her stomach, Katherine made her way through the castle – all the way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and the quarters behind that belonged to Giles.

Only to find that he wasn't there.

It was as she turned to leave that a particular brass apparatus in the corner caught her eye. The moon, not silver as she was used to, circled the rest of the solar system. A minute dial, upon approach and squinting, told Katherine that it was the early hours of the full moon.

Her star charts in her dormitory would confirm that the moon had always been in that very same phase every other time Giles had disappeared.

 _Maybe_ , thought Katherine, _he wasn't doing work for Dumbledore_.

He was always tired and pale – more so towards the end of the month.

He took days off at a time – Flitwick and McGonagall having become normal sights at the front of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Giles also appeared much more haggard and aged than he had alluded to being.

Leaving her friends to their differences, Katherine slowly spiralled through a werewolf-centred silage through the library until a time when Giles returned to the castle.

One particular long night testing Madam Pince's amicability, Katherine only returned to her dormitory upon catching the disconcerted look on a pepper-up-potion-guzzling Remus Lupin.

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

 **The next chapter is going to be Christmas at Number 12 Grimmauld Place with a perspective other than Katherine's for the full chapter for the first time since Chapter 8! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: A Black Christmas

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 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews – and your patience!**

 _ **beaniebun;**_ **Fabian and Gideon have swapped places in the presence of Katherine a total of two times so far in this story – and it was truly Fabian in the place of Gideon at Slughorn's Christmas party, I wonder if you can piece together when the second time was? And the truth behind Giles' disappearances comes quite a fair way along in the story :)**

 **EviColt; It wouldn't be a true Harry Potter fanfiction if the MC wasn't as unobservant as our Harry to certain going-on's at Hogwarts. So she will click, but will it be in the way everyone expects?**

 **noturgorl; I'm happy I updated too! I was seriously doubting myself for a moment as to whether I would get Chapter 16 finished – it felt like an impossibly large chapter, and a road block in the story, until I broke it into sections and got going. And, having an older sister, I often fall into the place of Regulus Black (the more traditional-parent-pleasing one) – so I am fascinated by the relationship of the Black Brothers because of how it mimics my own sibling relationship in some ways and will be writing a fair bit more – waning in intensity – of them.**

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 _His family_ , thought Sirius, _had a very selective memory when it came to the link between muggles and wizards_.

Except around Christmas – or _Saturnalia_ , as his Great Aunt Cassiopeia still called it.

Nature was innately magical, lending its advantageous gifts through serendipitous means of mutation to all manner of creatures. And, eventually, to humans. All wizards descended from muggles, the mutation in the DNA of humans was hereditary – but so was the muggle half of the DNA which sometimes proved dominant; resulting in squibs.

Nature; the bringer of all life, was a constant cause for celebration in both the wizarding world and muggle worlds – the squibs having carried on the tradition in the name of paganism. It was the paganist holiday – Saturnalia – which honoured the Roman God Saturn that took place every year between the seventeenth and twenty-fourth of December.

A week of eating, drinking and gift-giving marked the winter solstice; a celebration for the arrival of lighter evenings and to rejoice for the spring that was only around the corner.

As a child, Sirius' birthday always marked the beginning of dazzling lights in the streets, of a constantly open kitchen, of warm bellies – of a break in the numb, colourless coat of winter. A hum of harmony fell between the two worlds he walked between more freely; a universal hum of anticipation that something _brilliant_ was about to happen.

Even if it only was a break in the grim green décor of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

Boughs of Holly decked the halls, ivy was tucked into pockets instead of satin squares, and sprigs of Mistletoe were charmed to sprout sporadically. The green of the walls and the red of the plants a combination representing fertility, something desperately sought by members of the family and something their ancient muggle ancestors welcomed after struggling though an oppressive bleak period.

From his prepatory lessons, Sirius had deeper appreciation for the plants in his home. Holly was the sacred plant of Saturn – the roman god which they celebrated – and, over time, became a symbol of peace of joy. Mistletoe was recognised in a similar fashion, but had an ulterior purpose in the house of Black. If enemies were to meet each other under the plant, they were obliged to put down their weapons and form a truce until the following day.

Certain traditions, much to his parents' dismay, were mimicked in the windows they passed whenever they ventured out into muggle London to seek their disguised portals to their own world. It was owing to the fact that early Christians, looking for a way to explain the goings on of the universe that mystified them, saw the opportunity for unity with the druidic pagans. And, without an exact date for the birth of the man who dictated their way of life, declared Saturnalia – the winter solstice – as a point of mystical convergence in which was as good a time as any for the birth of their messiah.

And that was where another fork formed in the previously symbiotic evolution of humanity, and divided magical and muggle folks a branch further.

Sirius couldn't remember a Christmas without his little brother – a Christmas without Walburga tasking Kreacher with watching the two magical and mischievous boys while she prepared the food; untrusting of the creature with ancient family recipes.

In his childhood, Christmas was a time of freshly baked bread each and every day' steaming from the oven; new patchwork quilts from his Aunts and Grandmothers; and new jumpers – always green.

Christmas Eve was more auspicious than Christmas Day, despite the festivities of Saturnalia also lasting the entire week.

The precipice of mid-winter's celebration was marked by the giving of the yule log to the Patriarch, who would then light it and covet its flame; it being most unlucky for it to be extinguished. Games of exploding snap were played and ghost stories were told around the log in the hearth. The first story Sirius remembered being told around the log was by his mother, and about the log itself.

 _"…as the fire grew brighter and burned hotter, and as the log turned into ashes, it symbolized the final and ultimate triumph over evil._ " Walburga had whispered to a four year old Sirius on her knee – cushioned by her tartan skirts as the fire warmed their skin and cider warmed their stomachs.

To Sirius, evil – at that age – meant creatures and monsters that hid under beds and in cupboards and would steal him away from his family, stew him in soups, and scoop out his eyeballs.

Christmas Eve supper would also be taken in the room the log inhabited, crackers containing toys, Wizarding Wireless', jokes, chess sets, and paper hats were pulled alongside the eating of the roast. Before dessert and night caps, the lighting of the candles would take place. Two large coloured candles – always a symbolic black in their family – would be lit by the youngest person present.

Sirius vaguely remembered when he was the one to light the candles. Narcissa had sulked, he recalled, like Molly, Fabian, Gideon, Andromeda and Bellatrix had done before her. Due to he, his brother, and his cousins being born so close together, the tradition was passed quickly on with parents holding toddlers on their knees and guiding stubby fingers. Sirius lit the candles from the age of three to the age of six, Regulus lighting them from then – at the ripe age of five – onwards.

The candles would be lit with the flame of the yule log and, once lit, all would be silent. While the candles were transported to the table, everyone would make a wish – one to be kept secret.

In his childhood, Sirius would wish for the health, longevity, and prosperity of his family.

Once on the table, the silence would be broken, presents were allowed to be opened, and the candles would be allowed to burn themselves out. No other lights could be lit that night.

The Christmas traditions were a crutch for Sirius in the usually bleak atmosphere of his home, until his first year of Hogwarts.

After a tight hug with his teary brother on the platform and a pat on the shoulder from each of his parents, Sirius had wandered with disguised uncertainly onto the train. He couldn't have possibly of known about the boy with jet black hair he was about to meet and stand by in a knock-down drag-out with a boy boasting of Slytherin's prestige and belittling the boy with the last name 'Potter' at the same time.

James Potter had let Sirius into his compartment without asking his name, without checking whether Sirius was wearing the right jacket and shoes for that time of day, and with a grin.

Sirius had never defended anyone before, but he thought the Potter boy needed it against the prejudices he knew not but prejudices that Sirius knew intimately.

The sorting hat put Sirius in Gryffindor that evening.

Boys he had played with while their fathers talked Ministry business avoided his eye in the hallways.

Girls he had danced with at functions to discover compatibility for later betrothals watched him warily from a distance, always frowning at the colour of his tie before flouncing off should they ever need to speak.

Bellatrix looked the other way when her betrothed sent jinxes and hexes the way of Sirius and his first year friends.

Andromeda was the only one to talk to him the way she always had done, asking about their other cousins; Fabian and Gideon, two years above Sirius in Gryffindor.

He barely read the letter his parents sent him, carefully crafted, about his sorting on his first day of classes. He barely had time to think of them at all while learning new spells and that the use of the word 'mudblood' would get you throttled by Lily Evans no matter how often you held open doors for her.

Regulus' letters, however, Sirius always returned.

James Potter, Remus Lupin, Frank Longbottom, and Peter Pettigrew quickly became a source of never-ending laughs, back slaps, and company to run through the halls with for Sirius.

So, when Christmas came to Hogwarts and Professor McGonagall slowed by Sirus and James at the Gryffindor table with a question, he decided to stay at Hogwarts – lest he ruin all of his progress and lose his friends by picking up bad habits from his family again.

It was a convenient arrangement, Bellatrix's Prefect boyfriend fond of boil and tripping jinxes allowed to attend the Christmas festivities that year, and Sirius not wanting to be trapped in a room with him.

Regulus stopped writing, and when Sirius returned home for the summer, Regulus busied himself by trailing after their father. Sirius didn't follow, he knew of another world where dancing, speaking foreign tongues, and political policy didn't get you very far.

It was in Sirius' second year of Hogwarts that Regulus farewelled their parents with him on the platform, but ducked and weaved away from him to find Rodolphus' younger brother his age on the train.

It was in Sirius' second year that he and James figured out, after an extra twelve full moons in Astronomy class, why Remus disappeared every month and that his mother wasn't really ill.

Bellatrix and Rodolphus had graduated, married, and took most of animosity in Slytherin for Sirius with them before the summer. The imminent departure of his favourite cousin and new seventh year, Andromeda, weighed on Sirius though.

Andromeda had regaled Sirius and his friends with tales of Hogsmeade before she graduated in June – she detailed the secret passages a Hufflepuff Prefect, Ted Tonks, had shown her on their Prefect Patrols. Without her older sister around to snitch on her and a younger sister she had influence over, it seemed Andromeda had taken a trip to the town she spoke of with her purse and without her mother; her robes tighter, lower cut, and with shorter hems.

It was her descriptions of sweets that led Sirius and his friends to try and use the passages to Hogsmeade that Christmas. They had their fill, moaning and groaning in pain and fulfillment – and getting caught, as a result, by the pretty blonde barkeeper at the Three Broomsticks, Rosmerta. She turned them over to Hagrid who made them swear to not do it again, as he didn't want to see them get into trouble.

It was as they fled across the lawns; wide-eyed, grinning, and breathless under the night sky, that Sirius' mind wandered to a book on spells for magical maps in his family library – spells that could map _people_. Writing that same evening to his brother that had returned home that Christmas, Sirius asked him to find the book and bring it back to school with him.

Regulus refused.

The summer between second year and third year had been spent in the south of France, and Sirius was unable to snoop in the mahogany-fortified library at Twelve Grimmauld Place. He, instead, made the resigned decision to return at Christmas; for the first time since before he started Hogwarts.

Over Christmas Eve dinner, Sirius was seated further down the table than before he started Hogwarts; Regulus across from their mother and between him and his father.

Later he pretended to fall asleep in the sitting room after a few goblets of wassail – as his grandfathers had done – and he snuck past the kitchen, the door open a crack – like always, and a sliver of golden light peeking out along with muffle voices. At the opportunity, he rushed to the library, hid the book, and returned before anyone noticed.

That year he wished for the book to be helpful at the candle lighting.

His present that year had been a bicycle – only able to be used at home, as it would cause a ruckus at Hogwarts – _a ploy_ , Sirius recognised, even in his youth.

He received a letter on Christmas Day from James – his father had given James a cloak of invisibility, as he proved to be responsible in Hogsmeade over the school year. It proved a better present than his bicycle, but still – to keep up pretences – Sirius assembled the bicycle and was preparing to take it out onto the street when he heard thunder – not from the sky, but from footsteps of the front stoop.

The blizzard blew around the house while a storm of pillbox hats and shopping bags blustered in through the front door.

Sirius looked up from his book as Andromeda pulled off her gloves, throwing them down on the end table.

"He's _old_ , mother!"

A plethora of bundled herbs were ripped out of the paper bag; hemlock root, bezoars –

"He's a man of the world – and thirty is hardly –"

"He lives in deep country – I won't be able to step outside for fear of an animal attack –"

"That's what wards are for –"

"I'm seeing somebody else!"

Andromeda's eyes were equally as wide as Druella's, her hand dropping the newt's eyes and smacking across her mouth.

"Somebody else?" spluttered Druella, blinking, "You've been out of Hogwarts barely a year – you don't _know_ anyone else!"

Not wanting to be a part of the ruckus, Sirius took his bicycle out and around the block to Claremont Square. Snow fell on his nose and eyelashes, wind blew against and his cheeks and through his hair – it was the closest he could get to riding his broom back at Hogwarts.

It was back at home, a few hours later, when Sirius sought out his cousin in the room she always picked when visiting to check on her – like she always did when the roles were reversed.

Instead of reading on her bed or brushing out her hair at the vanity, Andromeda was surrounded by floating articles of clothing and a cluster of random possessions as she dashed from one side of the room to the other – to her open trunk.

"Are you leaving?" asked Sirius.

His words melded into the symphony of sounds that was Andromeda's repetitive pacing between her dresser and her trunk.

Andromeda sighed, flicked her wand, and blinked at Sirius with a tired smile, "If you're not on the tapestry, you're not welcome at Christmas."

"They've blasted you off?" Sirius frowned and looked behind Andromeda instead, watching her socks fold themselves and plop neatly on top of a stack of clothes, "We're…we're not cousins anymore?"

Andromeda closed the lid of her trunk with a hollow _THUNK_.

"Don't buy into that pureblood mania, Sirius," said Andromeda, turning back and sitting on top of the initial end of her trunk, "We'll always be cousins."

Sirius fell onto the small space of mattress beside the trunk – beside Andromeda, "But…but your duty to the family –"

"They don't need me,"

Andromeda looked up, sensing his disbelief, and placed a hand over his wrist with a small smile.

"Not like they need you."

Andromeda patted his hand and stood, her powder pink embroidered dress-coat opening to reveal the reason her clothes had taken on a more billowing silhouette after graduating Hogwarts. _And it had nothing to do with layering up against the winter winds_ , Sirius discovered.

"You…you're…"

"Pregnant," Andromeda smiled and lifted a hand, a diamond gold ring snug beneath the telling knuckle on her left hand, "And married."

"Which came first?"

For a moment, her likeness to her sisters – to Sirius was startling. But it dissolved; Andromeda's hair a light, soft brown, and her eyes wider – kinder.

"Watch it,"

Andromeda's lips tugged up, betraying her amusement.

"Ted's honourable."

Sirius nodded, blinking, "He always did look the other way when he stumbled across me after curfew…I approve, I guess…"

"I think he'd like to hear that one day…he was really cut up about not being able to ask my father's permission…"

Sirius caught himself partaking in a sappy smile of comradery with his cousin, and cleared his throat, looking to the door.

"They will have closed the floo,"

Sirius looked up to find that Andromeda didn't seem at all concerned.

"How are you getting out – you can't apparate when you're… er," Sirius' hands gestured of their own accord to where his thoughts had trailed, " _with child_."

Andromeda snorted, but smiled and blinked at the floor.

"Uncle Alphard kept his floo open in his room," said Andromeda, lifting her eyebrows and then her eyes to Sirius, "He also announced, quite loudly, that he was stepping out to the leaky cauldron to have a festive pint of Butterbeer with the Undersecretary to the Minister between eight and midnight."

"You'll be cut off – your vault will be emptied by morning."

Andromeda didn't blink.

"There are more important things."

"Like what?"

"One day," said Andromeda, standing with one hand on the handle of her trunk and the other reaching to pat Sirius' knee, "You'll understand."

In the New Year, Sirius returned to school, striking the memory of his mother blasting Andromeda from the Tapestry to his Aunt Druella's pleas and replacing it with the process of creating the map with the book he'd swiped from his family's library over the break.

Remus, gunning for Prefect the following year, helped translate the spells with Sirius while James and Peter used the invisibility cloak to map the hallways after dark.

Summer was spent in France, as per usual, Sirius itching to get back to school to finish the charms on the map instead of lapping up the sunshine and dousing himself in new colognes. And, by Christmas in their fourth year, the castle and everyone inside of it was theirs to observe at the wave of their wand.

Amongst the sneaking down to Hogsmeade to retrieve sweets and essentially residing in the kitchens to drink tankard after tankard of hot chocolate, Sirius almost missed the letter from his cousin alongside the annual one from his family. Andromeda was always an excellent story teller, and her letters read the same way as a book before bed.

Lured into a softer state of mind by her letter and the Christmas Card with a photograph of Andromeda, Ted, and an ever-hair-colour-changing Nymphadora on Ted's knee, Sirius opened a letter with all the fixings of his family's usual Christmas correspondence. Apart from a post script stolen in at the bottom – in his brother's handwriting; rushed.

It too turned out to be a tale and a half.

' _Molly's elopement with Weasley has been discovered – three years ago now, apparently – and she has already produced two heirs before the Malfoy's could follow through with her betrothal to a newly-of-age Lucius. Aunt Lucretia and Uncle Ignatius were disinvited from Christmas this year. Don't be seen with Fabian or Gideon for a while._

 _Kind Regards,_

 _R.A.B._ '

Sirius had no intention of heeding Regulus' warning. He, in fact, flouted it; spending as much time with Fabian after Quidditch practices in sight of his relations as possible all the way through to his fifth year.

That all changed, though, because when Sirius returned home at Christmas in his fifth year – as his parents' letter requested of him – his Aunt Lucretia, Uncle Ignatius, and his cousins; Fabian, and Gideon, were welcomed with smiles and kisses on the cheek. The four even gifted the yule log to Orion – _a false front of unity_ , Sirius knew.

Andromeda and Molly's absence was lurid despite the presence of both sets of his grandparents, the remaining four of his cousins, and his Great Aunt Cassiopeia.

The something that had changed, Sirius had discovered over the course of his fifth year, was the betrothal of Narcissa to Lucius Malfoy in place of Molly Prewett. Narcissa, it seemed, preferred – if she were to marry someone she was related to – someone a bit _closer_ to home. She and Gideon did a poor job of masking their longing glances and pained sighs at the lighting of the yule log.

Sirius knew, though, that he may have only been aware to them because he had peered through Katherine Spencer's binoculars not a moment after she had done after hearing his cousin's name mentioned on the Astronomy Tower and seen them together on the lawns.

"Walburga – my wand, if you will."

Orion's words snapped Sirius out of his reminiscence, and directed his attention to where his father wiped his hands on his slacks in front of the newly-deposited log in the hearth.

With a complicated flick of his wand, a swirl of rainbow-coloured flames engulfed the log, sparking, and then taking off in the brilliant orange colour Sirius had come to expect.

"You seem unfazed, Rodolphus," asked Fabian from beside Sirius as they all watched on, "Seen your fair share of burning things in your time, hey?"

Bellatrix turned with a look that threatened retribution at her cousin and his blasé comment.

Rodolphus simply blinked his dark eyes and peered around his curly black hair to Gideon, "This isn't my first Christmas with your family."

"Your first Christmas with us shouldn't have technically been allowed," trembled Cassiopeia as Regulus wheeled her past the group, clicking her tongue, "Imagine if Lucius were to attend this year – only with _aspirations_ to marry our Narcissa..."

"He gave me a _ring_." said Narcissa in pacification, trailing behind Regulus and Cassiopeia.

Fabian made a flurry of quiet smooching noises at Narcissa as she passed, "Was there kissing at this exchanging of the ring?"

"Grow up, there's isn't always kissing." muttered Narcissa, crossing her arms and marching through the doorway and almost up-seating Cassiopeia.

"Yeah," said Fabian, slinging an arm around Sirius' shoulder and grinning lasciviously, "Sometimes there's groping."

Alphard grinned, noticed his sister's eyes on him, and cleared his throat, "Enough of that – what's the time, son?"

Fabian jiggled his fog watch out of his waist coat.

"Four thirty-two." said Fabian, sighing and quickly pocketing the watch once more.

But not before Sirius saw a break in the glint – a dent in the metal.

"I thought you got it fixed." said Sirius.

Fabian blinked, frowning, "What?"

"In the changing sheds I overheard you saying you got it fixed." said Sirius, too frowning.

Fabian suddenly looked to his left – to Gideon – and then back to Sirius.

"Oh – yeah – dropped it again, you know how it is…" said Fabian, shrugging.

"Dinner's served."

With one last frown at Fabian, Sirius broke away to follow everyone into the kitchen to eat. It was at the door that he ran into another gold head of hair.

Gideon smiled tightly, waving a hand and bowing his head, "Patriarch's kin first."

A sudden flash of red hot annoyance in his throat couldn't be ignored by Sirius.

"I'm flattered, Gideon – _truly_ ," said Sirius, a bit harsher than even he expected, but feeling righteous all the same as he stepped through the door, "Especially considering that I _am_ , you know, a bit _younger_ than you and all."

Gideon's head pulled back, and his shoes became briefly unstuck from the floor as he considered Sirius in wide-eyed surprise.

Fabian, Ignatius, and Lucretia filed through around Sirius and Gideon who had stepped over to just beside the doorway.

"How did you –"

Gideon cut himself off, frowning and shaking his head.

"Why do _you_ , of all people, even care about…"

Again, Gideon ended his own sentence prematurely. This time with creased eyes and slack lips – cheeks light with realisation.

"What a time for our family," sighed Cassiopeia, smiling at the pot plant, "Narcissa graduating and wedding…the patter of little feet will be soon be upon us… _merlin, how I miss children…_ "

Sirius couldn't help but murmur beneath his breath as he turned from Gideon and took his seat in between Regulus and Alphard, " _Yeah, they don't know how to resist the imperious curse yet when they're in nappies..._ "

Regulus quietly choked on his piece of bread, smiling behind a handkerchief as he put the offending piece of food back of his plate.

"Gideon, you're graduating too," said Cygnus, swirling his glass over his plate, "What are your plans?"

"My aptitude test in fifth year showed a proclivity for authoritarian roles – especially in the justice system," said Gideon, sitting slowly across from Sirius, "Auror Moody offered me and Fabian places in his department if we pass the character tests and N.E.W.T's requirements."

Regulus glanced up and around at the table as he cut into his potatoes, "Sirius' aptitude test returned the same."

Sirius was overcome with saliva to gulp and a dry mouth at the same time.

"No, it –"

"I heard you and Potter talking." said Regulus, raising his eyebrows and closing his mouth around a forkful of potatoes.

"You're not thinking of pursuing it, are you?" asked Cygnus, leaning forward – voice hushed.

Pushing aside the indignity of being the only one questioned out of he and Gideon, Sirius leant to his left surreptitiously.

"Do you ever wonder why no one cool wants to hang out with you?" said Sirius out of the corner of his mouth.

Regulus smiled around the rim of his goblet, "Just thankful."

"Sirius, people get jobs to make money," said Walburga, leaning forward with raised eyebrows and lips caught between a purse and a smile, "You already _have_ money – it's like skipping a step."

"He'd double his vault if he invested more time in Quidditch," grumbled Arcturus, gripping his walking stick where it was leant against the arm of his chair, "Wasn't that Wisp fellow ranked in the top five earning wizards in the world in yesterday's issue of The Daily Prophet?"

Sirius blinked and set the beginnings of a smile on a wreath of mistletoe on the table, "There are more important things."

"Speaking of…" said Walburga, standing, "Regulus, would you go get the candles, dear?"

Sirius wished for something new that year; he wished for the safety of him and his friends and in the opening of presents he got, not another bicycle, but a broom – a Nimbus 1700.

"You didn't get a new bicycle this year, lad?" asked Ignatius, patting his waistcoat, "You must have done something positively heinous."

"A broomstick will serve him better than another muggle contraption," said Orion, "You're on par with the team's Seeker now, aren't you?"

Fabian looked up from his plate in tandem with his twin.

It was in the face of the Gryffindor courage he usually waved in his family's face that Sirius preoccupied himself with his meal.

"Yes, father."

"In skill as well?" asked Lucretia, twirling her fork to delay putting it in her mouth, "I heard that Gryffindor's new Seeker is almost as good as our Regulus."

"She's only played one game." said Regulus, his voice quivering with mirth and his brow heavy with incredulity as his eyes flashed around the table with barely disguised offense.

"Yes, her first game, in which she caught the snitch – quite a feat." said Sirius, straightening his desert spoon where it had gone askew above his plate.

"And almost fell off her broom."

Sirius' righteousness turned his head and his narrowing eyes to his brother, "It was _jinxed_."

A _THUD_ and a murmur of ' _bugger it to Baghdad_ ' alerted Sirius to the fact that Arcturus had dropped his walking stick – and that everyone else at the table had dropped their preoccupations to listen in.

"Was it now?" asked Bellatrix, crossing her legs and leaning forward.

"My, my…" said Cassiopeia, gazing blindly at the portrait behind Sirius, "You've never stuck around so long, my boy…"

Arcturus retrieved his walking stick, sitting down into his chair with a huff and a goading grin, "Yes, I'm surprised Sirius hasn't already rode off to try and catch a glimpse of that muggle girl he's fancied since _merlin knows when…_ "

Sirius leant back in his chair and undid his blazer's button, crossing his right ankle across his left knee and bracing his hands on the arms of his chair.

"There's always later."

Fabian snorted, gently elbowed by his mother who then proceeded to 'drop' her fork and request him to retrieve it.

"Ah, but aren't you in charge of stoking the yule log this year?" asked Cygnus.

Sirius' smile at Fabian's silent scolding slipped down his chin, neck, and settled like something cold in his chest.

Melania sat up beside Arcturus.

"It's quite the honour –"

Cassiopeia glowered at a candelabra.

" _Usually_ reserved for the _Patriarch_ –"

Orion waved a hand, leaving it up.

"Mere technicality," said Orion, blinking, "and only a matter of time,"

Orion's hand lowered to rest alongside his plate, his gaze setting on his goblet while the gaze of the table was upon him.

"One day," said Orion, blinking at his goblet before lifting it, pausing at his chin, "This house will be yours, Sirius,"

Orion took a short sip, rested his goblet down beside his plate, and knitted his fingers together on the snake-swirled placemat.

"You will join a long line of patriarchs…"

Sirius felt the full weight of both his father and his grandfather's stares.

Phineas Nigellus Black was the first disputable Patriarch with a direct line to him, and the Headmaster of Hogwarts from sometime in the late 1800s to the time of his death in 1925. He was unanimously regarded as the most unpopular Headmaster of the school.

The next Patriarch was Phineas' second eldest son, Sirius – _the_ _second_ ; named after Phineas Nigellus' older brother who was the rightful heir before his demise. Phineas junior, the next heir, had not shared in the blood supremacist views of his father, and had subsequently been disowned when he left Hogwarts. Spiteful over being the spare and not the heir, Sirius II was a tough man.

Arcturus Black, who sat at the far head of the table with Melania, was the first born of Sirius II. Wanting to make amends for his father's absence of egalitarianism, he let many rules slacken for sake of peace-keeping. Like when his first cousin once removed came to ask him for a betrothal with his son – her second cousin – wanting to leave the wings of the Black family and contribute to the main vein.

Orion Black, forced into a marriage with his cousin four years his senior, was a mix of bitterness and mercifulness in his rule over the family. The patriarch of the family naturally ascended to the family seat on the Wizengamot and Arcturus, not having expected to have lived so long, retired the seat and duties of Patriarch when his son produced an heir in Sirius the third.

Sirius – _the third_ – knew that, eventually, one day the duty would fall to him. His father, Orion, was still young by wizarding terms and would most likely hold the position until Sirius married; something of a far off concept to the sixteen year old.

"…rear your children in the learned ways of our forefathers within these walls; steeped in history…"

The ' _learned ways of their forefathers_ ' entailed a strict upbringing.

As soon as he could form words of English, words of French and German were sprinkled into his vernacular; for dignitary purposes when abroad – as they so commonly were; and Latin, to secure ease in learning spells.

As soon as he could walk, he was constantly pulled back at the shoulders, hit beneath the chin to lift it, and held back by scarves at the dinner table by his mother – all to promote impeccable posture.

As soon as he could tie his shoes, he was taught to dance; pushed together with his female cousins in the hazy sunlight of summer afternoons in the sitting room after an already full day of instruction. The waltz and all other types of ballroom manoeuvres ensured grace in movement, marriage prospects and success in political endeavours; if you could sway someone side to side, you could sway their mind readily enough.

Before a wand was available, a quill was the weapon in which a young gentleman wielded. The intimidation of a neat hand could never be underestimated, better yet – near impossibly decipherable curls of ink taught in the learning of calligraphy.

Tagging along to sit in on sessions of the Wizengamot was only allowed after a sizable display of self-discipline. Mastering an instrument was a common precursor to parliamentary privileges, Sirius sitting at the piano in his mother's parlour for hours – _days_ , of his youth.

The most interesting and disturbing compulsory part of his instruction had been using a pensieve and his ancestor's memories for the history component. Vivid witch burnings, revolutionary votes on the Wizengamot on the Statute of Secrecy, and discoveries of potions and spells were all interspersed with sneaking out into muggle London with his Uncle Alphard.

 _Something sweet_ , Alphard always said, _to break up the bitter taste the memories left in Sirius' mouth_.

It was all to ready him, like a stallion for auction, for marriage – for producing an heir – to carry on the tradition and prestige of the Black family.

"…we have to draw up a betrothal contract by your seventeenth birthday –"

"I want to choose,"

His father paused, his fork just short of his mouth.

Sirius placed his hands down, flat, on the table, and fixed his eyes on the snake-swirled place mat beneath his silver plate, "Mother requested you, and I would like to exercise my right to do the same."

"Whatever is the matter with Griselda Greengrass?" asked Walburga, sitting up straighter in her seat and joining her hands together.

Sirius blinked at his mother, "Apart from the fact that I almost hex her on a daily basis?"

"Well, what of Emmeline Vance?" suggested Orion, looking over the rim of his tumbler with quirk of his eyebrow, "She's one of _you_ , isn't she?"

Walburga's hand was immediately upon her husband's sleeve.

"The Vance's are on a broom's edge at the moment, Orion," said Walburga, bowing her head and whispering as if it were the most unmentionable crime, "They might follow the Potters down the rabbit hole."

Narcissa let out a tinkling, yet slicing, laugh, "Sirius is pretty, but hardly _fair_ enough for _her_ tastes…"

Sirius' eyes swung around to Narcissa, wider than he usually allowed when under the full family's scrutiny, but they were pulled back by a lordly cough on his right.

"The wizard's the head of the family, but the witch is the neck…" said Alphard, his elbow finding's Sirius', "You better choose an agreeable one."

"So who is she?"

Sirius' eyes rose to find himself under grey fire; his mother peering across at him expectantly.

"I've got to ask her first," said Sirius, leaning back in his seat and throwing an amused, appeasing expression around the table, "I hardly think I could face you all if she rejected me."

Alphard, Fabian, Narcissa, and Regulus snorted.

Orion waved a long, listless hand, "Her consent doesn't matter."

"What's next?" asked Walburga in solidarity, laughing shortly, "Asking her father for her hand?"

Regulus' tongue swiping the inside of his cheeks prompted Sirius to put the imprint of his Italian-leathered-shoe into his younger brother's shin.

Walburga continued, "Any self-respecting pureblood would jump at the opportunity to join our family."

Regulus' gentle grunt and brief lapse of his natural, aloof expression made Sirius sure that his little brother wouldn't be doing any jumping any time soon.

" _I would jump off the astronomy tower just to get out of it…"_ mumbled Sirius.

Regulus coughed into a handkerchief, but Sirius could see the corners of his lips peek out from the embroidered edge.

Orion picked up where his wife left off, lifting his napkin from his lap and depositing it on his plate, "Once you have attained the young lady's _permission_ –"

Alphard turned a lofty blink on his eldest nephew, "It _is_ a young lady, isn't it?"

"– We will draft the marriage license, plan the wedding for the summer after you graduate, and you can take the mark on your seventeenth birthday –"

Despite his Uncle's goading, Sirius still caught the strange addition to what his parents' usual plans for him entailed.

"I beg your pardon, father, what was that last one?" asked Sirius.

There wasn't so much as a _CLINK_ of silverware, but the stares thrown around the table were loud enough.

"Lord Voldemort is the light to guide us out of this muggle-loving epidemic – they used to burn us at the stake, for Merlin's sake," said Walburga, plainly, "You remember why Slytherin wanted to be selective from your preparatory lessons, don't you, boy?"

Sirius gave a short nod; strained by his disdain of the ideologies shoved down his throat before he could tie his own shoe laces.

"Times have changed, Wally," Alphard saved Sirius, leaning back in his chair, "Besides, they've just about killed themselves off with their silly wars."

"Alphard!" gasped Walburga, casting a hand across her chest as if she'd been stricken, "You can't be serious about this research you've been doing?"

Alphard inclined his head, amused, but stubborn, "Muggleborns are not to be hunted – they're the descendants of our out-casted squibs."

Orion stood, inclined his head as he finished chewing his dinner roll, and adjusted his satin cravat.

Sirius rose, Regulus after him, and they followed their father from the room at the silent cue.

" _A muggleborn only occurs if two squibs come together –_ "

Orion closed the door on the conversation, the thud of the door on the other side of the dining room indicating that their Aunts, Uncles, and cousins had done the same; leaving the middle-aged siblings to their bickering.

Orion led the way across the entrance hall to the front sitting room, gazing out at the passing muggles who couldn't look back at him even if he wished them to.

Regulus loitered by an arm chair just inside the door frame, not sitting.

Sirius too stood, watching his father and trying to not clench his hands or sway from foot to foot.

"A regiment will be here tonight to assess you – but it's just a formality, Black's _don't_ audition," Orion shook his head before holding it higher, "Your last name is a key that will unlock every door in your life –"

"I won't do it," said Sirius, shaking his own head and stepping back, "I'll spell myself purple and dance naked around the fireplace – chanting in _mermish_ – to convince them that I've gone round the twist if I have to."

Regulus bowed his head in edgeways to the mounting argument, "I think he means to express his concern for being killed, or otherwise incapacitated in Azkaban, and unable to raise the next generation of Black –"

"No, Reg, I _don't_ ,"

Sirius was unable to stop the narrowing of his eyes at his younger brother before he shifted them to his father.

"I won't get caught torturing muggleborns down by the brambles in Hogsmeade on my weekends – because I _won't_ be _scarring_ my arm up with that dead stupid skull and cross-bones tattoo."

Regulus' head fell back against the emerald wall panelling inside the door and closed his eyes.

" _Snake and skull…it's a snake and skull…_ "

Orion just strolled through the channel between the table and the couch to his decanter, " _Please_ , the muggles named a _plague_ after us and we still got away with it,"

One of Sirius' late Great Aunts, Araminta Meliflua Black, had indeed tried to pass a bill in the Wizengamot to legalise muggle hunting. When refused, she poisoned their wells village by village – the rats drinking from them as well as the muggles.

The poison was kept in a perfume bottle in the drawing room cabinet, a glittering amethyst threat – one that their mother; the one of more direct relation to Araminta, knew how to brew.

Orion paused by the cauldron, repurposed into a pot plant, that the active ingredient of the potion grew in.

Sirius, unable to look at the deceptively pretty purple flowers he had been driven back from with hexes as a child, found his shoes pointing towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Sirius bit back the retort of ' _anywhere is better than here_ ' and mounted a false, acidic smile on his lips that corroded any possible sincerity.

"I'm expecting a letter from Andromeda."

He might as well have turned into a dog and urinated on the rug.

Ignoring Regulus' gentle groan and closed eyes, Sirius shouldered past his younger brother and into the hallway. Half way down it, he passed the re-opened door to the kitchen and couldn't help but slow his stride and peer through.

Alphard and Walburga sat across from each other, tea cups at their lips, hair a mess, and eyes of stone on each other.

There was a shard of porcelain, matching the cups the two drank from, on the table; a giveaway of the physicality of the fight that had just transpired.

Passion was perfectly acceptable, _promoted_ even, in the House of Black. It's what mending charms were for. Love, however, was not. ' _Trust people's rage_ ' his father had always told him, ' _you can't fake that_ '.

It was not a moment after Sirius loosened his cravat, kicked off his shoes and socks, and threw himself across his bed, that Regulus haunted his doorway.

Sirius wasn't sure when Regulus dipped down into the mattress beside Sirius' feet, but upon peeking over his chest at his little brother déjà vu ploughed through Sirius from his heart to his feet.

"I think you've gone too far this time, Sirius."

"They need me," said Sirius, willing his voice lower before continuing, "What's the worst that could happen – they take back my Christmas presents?"

Regulus' lips twitched and he shook his head at the carpet.

"So," said Regulus, lifting his eyes from where they dug into the carpet and planting them on his older brother, "You've taken interest in a witch?"

Sirius rearranged his arms behind his head, shrugging where he lay on his back, "I always craft a new fanciable witch when our dear old parents start in on me about marriage."

"Sirius," Regulus tilted his head, nodding once, " _I know_."

"You do?"

"I'm your brother."

Sirius, in smiling at the corner of his mattress, caught Regulus doing the same.

A beat of light silence was broken when Regulus dusted down the knees of his slacks.

"It's not so different you know." said Regulus, blinking at the Gryffindor flag on the wall.

Sirius lifted his head to peer at his brother, "What isn't?"

"What you do, from what we do…" said Regulus, lifting his eyebrows, "You and Potter come down around kids like a brick house of torment, when you want to."

Something cold trickled down Sirius' spine, "It's…it's not like that."

"Isn't it?" asked Regulus, looking Sirius straight in the eye, "Black's naturally assume the spot at the top of the food chain," "

Regulus turned back to watch the wall once more, shrugging.

"Potter's one too – a Black – no matter what his father's done."

Sirius barely heard it.

"We're not bullies." said Sirius, frowning as he watched his own memories flash across the ceiling before his eyes – trying to find an instance that proved his brother right.

"Snape reckons you are."

"Snape bullies _you_."

"Takes one to know one."

Sirius' head flopped to the side in pure incredulity.

"Really, Reg?" said Sirius, unable to help his parting lips, "How old are we?"

Regulus' knuckles found the outside of Sirius' leg in a playful hit, "I'll always be younger than you."

"I'm not going grey yet." said Sirius, leaning back against his arms.

Regulus hummed absently.

"In our family, we rarely do."

It was a simple enough factual statement, an innocent observation, about how Blacks inherited an enviable set of genetics.

But Sirius couldn't help but feel that he should have paid attention – that he should take pause – that it possessed a double meaning, a meaning left lingering in the air between them…

"Son?"

Sirius and Regulus snapped to their feet, eyed each other, and then started for the door.

In the hallway they were met with Alphard, who staggered at the sight of them and cast a hand across his forehead.

"Don't do this to me," said Alphard, his gold signet ring flashing as his hand shot out to prop himself against the hallway wall, "I'm already seeing double."

Regulus cleared his throat, bowed his head, and strode around his Uncle and closed himself into his own room.

Sirius, recognising that his Uncle had climbed the stairs for him, swivelled on his heel and sighed all the way to his bed; throwing himself upon it.

Alphard followed; sitting himself upon the edge of the maroon sheet set and bracing his hand on his knee. He turned to regard his nephew and then turned to watch the fireplace at the foot of Sirius' bed.

"She didn't poison your tea, then?" asked Sirius, reaching for his mini Quaffle on his bedside table, "For poisoning our family with such progressive values?"

Sirius flicked his wrist, sending the Quaffle ceiling-wards.

"No," said Alphard lightly, his lips twisting and his eyes glinting; but still set on the fire, "She would never dare do something when I expected it."

The hexagonal ball landed in Sirius' palm, and his eyes landed again on his Uncle, "Are you here to be a relatable figure to convince me to go against all my beliefs for the greater good of the family?"

In wait of a response, Sirius sent the ball up once more.

"You're sixteen, you don't have any beliefs,"

Sirius snatched the ball instead of waiting for it to reach his palm, snapping up at the waist.

Alphard held up a hand, his whiskey eyes sparkling and betraying his attempt for an apologetic smile.

"Alright, pipe down…pipe down…"

 _Down_ , didn't register with Sirius. He felt the undeniable need to stand.

A frustrated longing for an indescribable state of being pulled his Quaffle arm back, his ribs twinging as he threw the ball with the violence he felt thrumming against his spleen.

One of the posters he'd sourced from a muggle stall at Kings Cross Station in fourth year crinkled in, making a mess of a blonde lady's face.

"I wish this Voldemort sap had never been born,"

Sirius kicked his bed, one of the wooden slats bridging, snapping, and sending his Uncle into the sudden hole in his mattress.

"I wish my parents were different…"

Sirius's shoe found his bicycle next, it hurtling against the wall; wheels clicking and spinning.

"You're looking at the negatives – they're going to let you choose your own bride – that's something," Alphard pulled himself out of sinkhole of mattress, smoothing back his hair, "You'll pump out a dozen kids and you can change what it means to be a Black if you just stick it out a little longer."

Sirius fell back against his bed, "Maybe I might follow your example and not have any children at all."

"I would have plenty of children with the right person."

Sirius squinted at his ceiling, "I don't remember seeing any women on your arm – ever."

"I lost the only woman I could ever love before you were even born," Alphard sighed, "You wouldn't have."

"Who?" The word shot from his lips as quickly as the curiosity fired through his brain, his neck turning it to the source of its sudden excitement.

Alphard uncrossed his legs, leaning back with a downward tug of his lips, his cheeks laden with haggardness.

"Her name was Margaret," said Alphard, frowning as if he were having teeth pulled, "We were in Slytherin together."

Sirius was struck by an uncomfortable possibility, fighting his muscles' twitch to squirm.

"Did she… you know…die?"

There was a soft fall of air from Alphard's nose and brief twitch of his lips – but then they hardened, his lips seemingly being newly sewn together.

"A few years ago…" said Alphard, blinking and casting his eyes back into the fireplace, "Old age."

"Why didn't you marry her?" asked Sirius, his legs bowing to sit criss-cross and his hands finding his feet where they met in front of him.

Alphard's pupils flitted to the corners of his eyes – to Sirius, and, upon finding Sirius not as indifferent as the man seemed to have hoped, he sighed and bowed his head.

"She was scared of our family," said Alphard, his shoulders so slumped that Sirius thought they might touch together, "Your mother was named _Walburga_ for goodness sake – to appease the German influence of Grindelwald at the time... _Margaret_ –"

Any of his usual gusto returned by the telling of a good story, evaporated at the name, leaving something hollow beneath Alphard's cheeks.

"– saw the possibility for darkness in our family."

Sirius didn't think people worrying about the inclination of their family's magic was anything new, and let himself be led where he was most curious.

"Did she love you?"

Alphard's head lifted and his eyes found Sirius, paused, and then fixed on the window.

"She asked me to run away with her to Australia – to hide with the muggles escaping their war." said Alphard, the tails of his eyebrows meeting the wrinkles running into his inky hair.

A space opened up between Sirius and the man he thought he knew, "And you didn't go?"

 _His_ _Uncle Alphard_ , thought Sirius in disbelief; _defiant, progressive, valiant, Alphard Black_ –

"I did,"

The two words struck Sirius somewhere deep in his stomach – or maybe the accompanying wry twist of Alphard's lips did.

"When I got to our meeting spot, she wasn't there," said Alphard, crescent shaped eyebrows mounted high on his forehead, "Your grandfather was,"

Pollux Black reserved a place in the recesses of Sirius' mind, always – as an example of the kind of man not to be. The kind of man whose presence came over a room like a dark, ceaseless winter; silent and gloomy, and all from his claimed chair in the corner.

"He'd intercepted our letters and crafted one on my behalf…" said Alphard, his lips twitching and the wrinkles around his eyes vanishing – thirty years seem to lift from him in a strange show of amusement, "Margaret was under the impression that I was a dutiful son that couldn't abandon his family in a time of war and urged her to move on to find a more suitable match."

It was all Sirius could do to not gawk, settling for a sympathetic squint, "And Grandfather lived to see me and Regulus born?"

Alphard glanced at Sirius, his ash gaze smouldering and stirring with mirth, before it vanished to the window.

"I was sixteen,"

Alphard's ash eyes set upon his graphite trousers, his hands lifting and lowering on his knees.

"I wasn't always this bitter and good with a wand," said Alphard, smile waning as his crescent eyebrows fell from his forehead, "Besides, there was a war on – it seemed…frivolous… _after_ the severe dressing down from my parents, anyway..."

"The fact that there was a war on was all the better reason to have done it."

A twist of his Uncle's lips told Sirius that – had he followed through and married Margaret – there would have been a lot of violence on the part of the Black family that would have, perhaps, eclipsed both the magical and muggle wars.

Alphard sighed, a long, widely-lived sound through Sirius' young ears, "I see so much of myself in you, Sirius,"

As a rare anomaly in his family, Sirius thought that there was no greater compliment –

"But I see even more of myself in your brother,"

Sirius couldn't stop the rumble of incredulity from sneaking up from his chest that his arms crossed against.

"You can scoff at my words now," said Alphard, pinching the fabric of his trousers, just above the knee, so that he could extend his leg comfortably, "But I've always held firm to the belief that the house sorting at Hogwarts takes place far too early."

Sirius felt the pull of gravity in his neck as he willed his muscles to let go of his sitting position – and Alphard to discard his trail of conversation; his back meeting his caved in mattress.

"So Margaret moved on?" asked Sirius through a sigh, eyes on the ceiling above his bed; dented from hitting it so many times with his miniature quaffle.

A thick, catching sigh, began where Sirius' left off.

"She swore that her children and great-grandchildren would never marry into our family, cursed me to the heavens that we're all named after, and then; yes," Sirius felt his Uncle's gaze on him rather than saw it, "She moved on."

Sirius turned his head to find Alphard considering him with a daring glint in his unmoving eyes.

"What was her last name?" asked Sirius, endeavouring to keep his own stare as unmoving.

Alphard blinked, raised his eyebrows, and gently shook his head side to side, all the while gazing imploringly across at Sirius, "Is it important?"

Something settled behind Sirius' sternum, like a bramble that only his words might dislodge and only – _only_ – if it got the right response from his Uncle.

"Did you love her?"

Alphard's tongue clicked as his mouth opened, his eyes turning – his shoulders following.

"Black's don't love," Alphard turned back, but kept his eyes trained on the mattress beside Sirius' shoulder as he spoke his next words, "They fulfil duty,"

Alphard blinked once, and turned half-lidded eyes on Sirius.

"And if they do love," said Alphard, pausing, "Well…"

Alphard's eyes flickered and his lips twitched.

"It never ends well."

Sirius sighed, raising his eyebrows, "That's cheerful."

"This isn't the noble and most ancient house of sunshine," said Alphard leaning back to straighten his lapels, dusting them, "Black stays – evermore still –"

"Always pure." chorused Sirius with his Uncle.

There was sardonic, shared look of discomfort at the family dogma, and a strange sense of unity.

And then Alphard went to stand.

"Uncle?"

"Yes, son?"

"Do I know any of her family?" asked Sirius.

Alphard smiled, tapped his hand on the doorframe, and shook his head at Sirius, "I wouldn't risk the curse applying to friends as well."

"Curse?" asked Sirius.

Alphard sighed, shifted his weight between his shoes that were already out the door, and frowned at the floorboards between the two.

"When Margaret… made her _displeasure_ with me known," said Alphard, with a significant look at Sirius before returning to the floorboards; frowning, "from then on, anytime someone from either family tried to join the two…unfortunate events befell them."

Sirius felt no goose bumps or trepidation. Not like he usually did when he was being warned back from something by a family member.

"Curses can be broken."

Sirius sat up in enough time to watch the man cling to the doorframe in uninhibited jollity.

"By what – true love's kiss?" Alphard laughed, squinting through mirthful eyes at Sirius, shaking his head, "You've been reading too much."

"Not enough obviously," said Sirius, falling back onto his bed, reaching for his miniature Quaffle again and a reaction from his Uncle with his next words, "If I don't know who this Margaret is."

Alphard left, and Sirius did everything he could to pass the time until he had to weasel his way out of deal with a man you could not refuse. He polished his new broom, he tried push ups, he read ahead in his school books. But none of them could mask the flurry of arrivals through the floo. Sirius felt the intruding on the house's wards in the veins of his forearms; throbbing with the blood keyed into the protection of the house.

And then it was silent, for too long of a stretch of time to mean anything good.

Unable to bear it, Sirius cast a notice-me-not charm on himself, and slipped downstairs to eavesdrop; wishing he could cast a disillusionment charm like Katherine had when he and James snuck her down to Hogsmeade.

Knowing that an accomplished wizard would not be fooled by his charm, Sirius slipped into the nook behind a tall vase; conveniently located directly outside the sitting room door.

"The campaign at the Department of Mysteries," asked a silvery voice, "How are we faring?"

"Our informant has found a gap in the Order's patrol," Sirius recognised the tones of Rodolphus Lestrange, "We will have acquired what you seek by Tuesday next."

"Good," said the silvery voice once more, "We will then launch the final phase of our plan,"

Sirius felt his ears peel open in desperate curiosity, in his oddity for more information he disregarded the strange silence in the room.

"We will acquire _the girl_."

A chair scraped; once out, once back in; footsteps rapping out with an unfailing rhythm on the floorboards.

 _Manners_ , scoffed Sirius internally, _must help further skew their moral ambiguity when in company_ …

"What are you going to do with her, my lord?"

A curly haired man, tall and with hollowed cheeks, grew larger in the space Sirius peered through.

Sirius went cold, though secure in his hiding place, at the presence of the man who he opposed with every snide remark and every mention of the plan he made to join an underground movement to undo him.

 _Voldemort_ paused, holding himself tall and wide in the doorway.

Sirius felt the air in the room sucked out.

But only he could see the narrowing of Voldemort's eyes, and the twist of his lips.

"I'm thinking a bite to eat and a film – I don't want to go too fast," said Voldemort caustically, turning his head over his shoulder briefly, before turning back, rolling his eyes, and stepping out of the doorway and into the hallway, "I've been hurt before."

Voldemort was opening the front door when furious whispers met Sirius' ear.

"How daft could you be –"

"One never speaks to him out of turn –"

Voldemort slipped into the night, closing the door. The unmistakeable _POP_ of apparition let Sirius breathe again.

"Katherine Spencer," sighed a faceless man, "Count your breaths."

Sirius' heart flew out of his throat.

 _Spencer_. They were talking about _Spencer._

While she was back at the castle, tangled tightly in Dumbledore's protection, Sirius was in the bowels of the plot to take her life.

The girl who sat across and two spaces down from him at meals in the Great Hall, who hovered just above him during Quidditch practises, who sat beside Evans and in front of him during every class, who he watched get turned down in Hogsmeade by her crush.

She was just a girl. A plait-wearing, Quidditch-playing girl.

Sirius couldn't understand why Jasmine Copper and the Darkest Wizard of the Generation were so intent on making sure she met her undoing.

Why her and not Evans? _They were essentially the same_ , thought Sirius.

He couldn't dwell any further, the door swinging open and his parents and cousin huddling out and along the hallway.

"I don't think he –"

"Sirius will do the right thing." said Walburga, slowly and emphatically, a hand raising to quieten Orion.

Orion blinked at his wife, shaking his head and turning to stare at the skirting board, "It would be a first."

"In the new world order, the followers of this man will enjoy all the spoils of this war," whispered Walburga, grey eyes glittering in the moonlight streaming in, "As a son of this family – as the _heir_ of this family – it is his _duty_ to ensure that we remain the cream of the crop."

Orion sighed, ran a finger along the bridge of his nose delicately, and turned to Bellatrix – half-lidded.

"When will he be back?"

Bellatrix checked her nails, peering down her nose, "Two…maybe three in the morning..."

The same light that made Walburga's eyes glitter, illuminated her trembling alabaster flesh.

"Someone will fetch Sirius at one," Walburga pursed her lips, turning away as she lifted a pump onto the bottom step of the staircase, "Not a second later."

It was if the heel of Walburga's pump went – not through the step – but through Sirius' heart. _Gaping_ – that was how he felt. A hole-ridden mast flapping in the wind.

He climbed the stairs to his room like a ghost – as quiet as he was despondent. His stealth owed only to years of hiding in and mapping out the house in his youth and boredom; his socked feet following the path with the least-squeakiest floorboards, least portraits to lure him into conversation, and the lowest risk for familial interaction.

There was nowhere to hide.

He no longer fit inside the retired, cobweb-filled dumb waiter.

He no longer fit behind the false panel to a nook of his ancestor's evaporated liquor cabinets.

He no longer fit inside his family.

Not if they wanted him to take any part in the murder of a girl he knew – the murder of a girl –

"Whatever comes out of your mouth, Alphard –"

His mother's shrill tones sent Sirius to the shadows. The corner of a landscape portrait of their country manor poked into his spleen as anxiety poked hot needles through his lungs.

Sirius watched the ray of light illuminating the bottom of the door break, flicker, and settle with full force.

Walburga was pacing inside the room; undoubtedly seeking counsel from her older brother – or, most likely, receiving it without much choice.

"– is a waste of breath," continued Walburga, "A toxic air-borne event –"

The customary words of chide sent sensation back to Sirius' feet and cheeks; something normal in the wish-wash of the night's events.

He kept on into the endlessness of the ever-pressing darkness.

The warmth of his bedroom was but a short, sweet reprieve from it – and the things he had heard.

He had never entertained thoughts of leaving it before.

But he used also used to believe that muggles still burned witches and wizards at the stake.

Remembering the flick of Andromeda's wand, nearly three years ago to the day, Sirius' belongings began flying through the air. His trunk filled, his drawers emptied, and Sirius pried open his window. The elbow of his winter coat, bent as he hauled his broom to the window, caught – there was a flash – and then a shattering, tinkling _SMASH_.

Mirror shards rained down on his floor and panic rained down upon his stomach.

No doors slammed open.

No feet came thundering along the hall.

Sirius crouched down to the shards, a thought coursed down out of nowhere, and his wand slipped down to his left hand. All of the shards floated through the air and into his trunk that he then tied to the middle of his broom with one of his belts, hovered out on the fire escape, and mounted to fly down onto the snow-covered street.

And that was as far as he could go, out of the protection of the house's wards that hid underage magic.

Sirius turned back, and saw Twelve Grimmauld Place between Eleven and Thirteen; like he always had, and he wondered how much longer he would be able to.

Christmas carols echoed down the white street from some far off place. _Muggle_ , Sirius realised at the mention of 'Christ' in the tune as he gazed in through the windows of the townhouses on the block of Grimmauld Place.

Christmas lights twinkled against window panes; yellow, red, green, and blue; obscured by the shrubby branches of pine and fir. Lamps went out around children's beds as parents put down large books, seasonal programs on televisions flashed into the street, smoke swirled up where laughing people huddled down in their coats on fire escapes with embers flicking from between their fingers.

Number Twelve, however, had only one light on. And Sirius knew it wasn't a light at all, but the Yule log; burning in the hearth. It would continue to burn without him to stoke it.

So Sirius lifted his left hand, the dark wood of his wand stark against the powdered street.

The laughs and carols continued despite the deafening _BANG_ and the appearance of midnight purple double-decker bus.

"Welcome aboard the Knight Bus, emergency transportation for the stranded witch or wizard…"

* * *

The constant creaking and clicking of doors pulled Regulus from a dream-filled sleep, footsteps padding overhead, below, and all around.

Confused and irritated by the hive of activity, Regulus ripped his trousers off of his bedside table and stomped his feet through the holes. Too angry for the delicate buttons of his night shirt, Regulus only bothered with the bottom two; pulling a robe on and pulling open his own door.

No one was in the hallway to comment on his abrupt awakening – to apologise for waking him.

Regulus seethed, and stalked down the hallway to the stairs. The silence snipped away at him until it was no more – until he happened across another presence just shy of the stairs.

The door to the drawing room was ajar, beckoning Regulus into the sliver of light spilling across the hallway. The thorn of curiosity tickling the skin beneath his neck hairs was dislodged by the image of his mother in the gap, writing furiously in her night gown and lop-sided braid, and was replaced with confusion.

" _If you have received any correspondence…reply would be most welcome…_ "

"Mother?"

Regulus had never seen his mother jump before. Or look so young; with her untamed black curls, a bare face, and bare feet.

"Oh, Regulus…" Walburga returned her eyes and hand to her parchment to scribble of what seemed to be a salutation, "Kreacher should be able to handle your breakfast..."

"I'm not hungry," mumbled Regulus, raking a hand across his sleep-crusted face, "It's _three_ in the morning."

Walburga's hand slipped around the stamp, sliding and disfiguring the Black family wax seal.

"Is it?" asked Walburga, blinking at the stack of sealed envelopes before her.

"How long have you been writing letters – _why_ have you been writing letters?" asked Regulus, trying to make his sleepy mouth move around his words.

"I suppose you'll find out eventually…" said Walburga, sighing and pressing a finger between her eyebrows, "It's your brother –"

A _SCREECH_ , louder than the thrumming of anxiety through Regulus' veins, was followed by the unmistakeable scratching of claws on a windowsill.

Regulus' neck snapped around to it, and throbbed alongside his heart. A twinge of familiarity assuaged the bubbling disquiet at the mention of his brother's name; Regulus had seen the owl before.

The Eagle Owl threw its shoulders back as it hopped down onto the table beneath the window, proffering it's leg that was weighted with a scroll of parchment.

Walburga shot out of her chair and hastened across the floorboards, feet shuffling, her hands shakily pulling the scroll of parchment from the scaled leg of the owl.

Shaking its freed leg, the owl glanced around the room and, with a _HOOT_ , it took to the grey skies once again; vanishing into the London skyline.

Walburga turned, the scroll in her hands.

It was bound in a crimson ribbon.

And in the process of crossing back to her desk, it met the floorboards.

Regulus instinctively dove for it, like he would a snitch, and saw the ironic glint of the gold lining on the inside of the parchment. Unfurling it, he saw that it possessed only few scrawled words.

' _Sirius arrived at midnight. He's safe. He will be staying until the time he comes of age. Regards, Euphemia Potter_."

 _Reading it aloud_ , mused Regulus privately as he watched his mother unsheathe her wand, _perhaps wasn't the best idea_ ; leaving him in the room and privy to flick of the wrist that created a new hole in tapestry.

Regulus' felt as if his brain was drifting out of his skull, and he had to keep jumping to snatch it back and gain some semblance of thought.

The name next to his – the one that had been there long before Regulus', and the one that he thought would be there long after both brothers had passed – was no longer.

Walburga's shoulders didn't heave. Her hands no longer shook. And her bare face was shaded, not by powders and creams, but by her cascade of black curls.

"Go back to bed, Regulus." said Walburga, not stirring a single bare toe from where they hugged the floorboards.

"But, Sirius –"

"The last Sirius in our family died in nineteen fifty-two," said Walburga, pointing to her own Great Uncle, "And there won't be another, ever again,"

Walburga turned to Regulus, grey eyes as hard and blank as a slate – grey eyes that had an uncommon habit of only being bestowed upon first born children in the Black Family. A dead giveaway that Regulus wasn't the only child Walburga would now insist he was from then on.

"My boy," said Walburga, softer, and with a perfunctory maternal lilt of her lips, "You should go back to bed – you'll need your rest."

Regulus returned to his room.

But he did not sleep.

And owl was waiting for him, sitting neatly on the foot of his bed; a package tied above its talons.

The package contained a shard of a broken mirror, Regulus sure that if he made the journey to the room across the hall he would find the mirror on the wall missing a piece, and in it he saw a face so like his own – but not. The reflected fragment of face flashed briefly, the eyes – not blue – rather like silver lightning.

The shard found its way into the pocket of Regulus' coat when he left in room in the guise of getting breakfast, but, more truthfully, to hear someone mumble the name – to cement the fact that something was wrong, that something – someone – was missing.

Alphard Black, on a rare occasion, _didn't_ disappoint.

"Where's your brother?" asked Alphard, swinging onto a backwards chair and using a small, sharp knife to slice off a piece of apple.

Regulus glanced at the stiff shoulders of Kreacher by the stove, the rising Daily Prophet of his father, fixed his eyes on the place he had sat the day previous – elbow to elbow with, according to his mother, no one – and fixed his composure.

"I don't have one."

Regulus wasn't sure if truly were he that had spoken.

But Alphard paused, considered Regulus over his apple, and sighed.

So he _must_ have said it.

"Charming woman; your mother…" said Alphard, standing and tapping the chair before gliding from the room like a wisp of steam snaking through the air from the boiling kettle on the stove Kreacher had to jump to.

Regulus fingered the broken piece of mirror in his pocket an owl had delivered at the crack of dawn, careful to not catch his smooth skin on the jagged glass.

Alphard didn't pick another fight with his sister like Regulus expected his uncle to. Regulus was unsure if it was because boughs of holly and sprigs of mistletoe seemed to sprout out of the wooden panelling of the home wherever Walburga happened to go, or if Alphard had slipped into a deeply repressed Slytherin characteristic of cunning – forfeiting the battle for the war.

Holly was supposed to protect homes against lightning according to old tales, as well as promote peace and joy, but Twelve Grimmauld had never been so charged.

* * *

His office in the Ministry had always be refuge for Alphard Black ever since he left Hogwarts and assumed the position. He worked in the Department of Births, Deaths, and Marriages – specialising in ancestry tracing. _Who better_ , John Entwistle; the deputy head of the department, had said upon Alphard's acceptance into the role, _to trace ancestry that someone with the oldest traceable ancestry in the wizarding world_.

It wasn't often that he had people visit his office, being a Black and usually working via owl correspondence with those looking into their families. So a knock on his door during the Christmas Holiday period was regarded with confusion and irritation.

Alphard frowned at the door, "Come in."

A neat head of coiffed white-blond hair slipped through his door, a long, lithe body attached – draped in form-fitting green velvet.

Alphard vaguely remembered the days when his robes clung to him in such a flattering, disarming way…

"Hello," said the young man, blinking and standing next to the chair on the other side of Alphard's desk, "Mister Black, I presume?"

Alphard simply blinked, feeling his eyebrows lift ever so slightly as he took in the man.

"I'm Minister Bagnold's Junior Assistant, Alexander –"

"To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from the Minister's Junior Assistant?" asked Alphard, leaning back in his chair and knitting his hands across his waistcoat.

"This isn't business," said Alexander, lowering his gaze, pressing his lips together, and raising his eyes once more, "It's a personal matter,"

Alphard sighed, sat up, and waved a hand in gesture for him to continue.

Alexander's throat bobbed and his eyes set on Alphard's crystal orb paperweight, "I was adopted by squibs as a baby, and now that that I am of age and…able to finance it, I would like to find my birth parents."

Alphard nodded at the chair Alexander's fingers ghosted by, "Sit down,"

Alexander moved with crisp grace into the chair, his elbows finding the arms rests and his ankle finding his opposite knee automatically.

"Adoptive parents' names?" asked Alphard, readying himself on the edge of his chair, hands braced on his arm rests.

"Charles and Valerie Abbott."

Alphard's body stalled, and he didn't pull himself out of his chair as he had planned to.

"Abbott?" asked Alphard, surprised that he managed the name through his numb lips and face.

Alexander raised his eyebrows and nodded once, as if entertaining a man hard of hearing.

Alphard dragged himself to his filing cabinet, flicking his wand at the alphabetised sections.

"Abbott… Abbott…Abbott – _Abbott_ ," Alphard fished the file out of the 'A' section and peeled it open, plopping back down into his chair, "An underage witch was taken to St Mungo's Hospital for Maladies on the ninth of February, nineteen fifty-seven by…"

 _The names…the circumstances…it was all too familiar…_

Alphard snapped the file closed and considered Alexander's hair, eyes that matched his robes, and his commanding smile…

"As it so happens, I am familiar with your case,"

Alphard placed the file down on his desk, preparing to push it across.

"You _are_ technically an Abbott," said Alphard, blinking in concession, "Charles Abbott is your grandmother's brother."

Alexander sat up, his elbows abandoning his armrests, "And who is my grandmother?"

Alphard resisted the urge to close his eyes – to turn away. But he pursed his lips, and did his duty.

"Margaret Abbott."

Alexander didn't blink, he didn't flinch.

"And what of my mother – my father?" asked Alexander, eyes shining ravenously.

Alphard knew that the paternal side of Alexander's birth certificate was blank, but he also knew who was supposed to be on it – and that Alexander would most likely not be pleased.

"Your father isn't listed, but it is said that your mother requested that your middle name be for him."

Alexander's hands fell to his knees, his backside moving to the edge of his seat, "Mister Black, my mother – _please_."

 _Green had never had such an imperious lilt_ , thought Alphard as he slid the manila folder across his desk; a glossy edge peeking out – a corner of sleek white-blond hair that Alexander shared, and a waving hand.

* * *

"What does this mean for you, Albus?"

The consecutive tick of the clock was interspersed with snores and gentle snorts of the portraits on the wall, a gentle whirring of silver instruments – all of it held behind the steepled fingers of the silver-haired man, peering over the tops of his half-moon spectacles.

"It doesn't mean anything for me." said Dumbledore.

"Don't kid yourself, Albus," Slughorn tweaked his sleep-squashed moustache, "You collect people too – you were _invested_."

Dumbledore's crooked nose lowered, and his spectacles slipped precariously to the sun-spotted tip, "Please make your meaning plainer, Horace."

Slughorn tightened the tassels of his velvet bathrobe and flexed his feet in his slippers.

"There's potential to be great," said Slughorn, impassioned, before tilting his head and lowering his eyes thoughtfully, "And then there's potential to be… _useful_."

Dumbledore blinked, "How would a teenager be useful to me?"

The right side of Slughorn's face twitched, the man leaning forward as if telling a secret, "How is the weapon to destroy the darkest wizard in history – that you've given refuge and protection – useful to you?"

Dumbledore's fingers parted, his hands lowered to be in line with his elbows, and he crossed them on the desk in front of him.

"How is a… a –" Slughorn waved his hands around with wide, watery eyes, before leaning forward and whispering "– _werewolf_ useful to you when he's graduating in two years and will be able to form connections with the very packs that can unleash mayhem on both muggle and wizarding worlds under the wrong leadership?"

Dumbledore's crooked nose slowly lifted, as the man set his wispy-eyebrow-framed gaze on something through Slughorn.

"How is a half-giant you saved from expulsion useful to you when dark wizards are so fond of utilising the brutishness of his kind that the Ministry's chased to the mountains?" asked Slughorn, his hands clutching at the arms of his chair.

Dumbledore knitted his hands together and leant back against the high back of his wooden chair, his blue eyes very pale in the candlelight.

"They're soft enough to believe themselves indebted to you – primed for the moment you snap your fingers and ask whatever you will of them; …always too much," Slughorn shook his head, turning away all the while, " _You always ask too much…_ "

"And of Sirius Black?" asked Dumbledore, tilting his head and blinking once.

Slughorn abandoned his arm rests, and might have rolled forward – right out of his chair – in his incredulity, if his slippered feet hadn't stamped onto the carpet.

"What could come of having inside eyes and ears in one of the oldest, most prestigious – and arguably darker – pureblood lines in the wizarding world?" whispered Slughorn, falling back into his chair, "Only boundless usefulness."

"And what makes you think that I cannot harness that usefulness like you seem to think I do with many others?" asked Dumbledore, closing his eyes and waving a hand.

Slughorn turned solemn and still.

"Because Sirius Black isn't a pariah that needs your help,"

Dumbledore's eyes cranked open.

Slughorn blinked, "And he is, I think, more Slytherin than any of us truly know."

"You think he'll change sides?" asked Dumbledore, furrowing his brows.

"Goodness, _no_ ," Slughorn's eyes were as wide as tennis balls in the scarce, flickering light, "But you'll never make him do anything he doesn't want to do."

"And what of his brother?"

"Would you duel Walburga for him?"

Dumbledore almost smiled, the ghost of twinkle returned to his pale blue eyes, "The only witch who may be my undoing…"

"Black's, above all else, are fiercely protective of their kin." said Slughorn, folding his hands in his lap and nodding once.

Dumbledore's eyes creased, his lips twitching.

"Not as of late, it seems."

Slughorn bowed his head, "They've pruned their tree, I will concede that."

"You still wish him to eventually accept one of your invitations though?"

"Of course."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I had celebrations for my 19** **th** **birthday to contend with on and around the 4** **th** **– resulting it a longer wait than I had intended when I began writing this chapter, my sincerest apologies. I hope you enjoyed it and am anxiously awaiting your thoughts on this chapter! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The New Year

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Merry Christmas! (If you celebrate it) Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

* * *

Katherine spent her tenth Christmas at school, like usual.

But it was the best one she'd had yet.

Under the tree in the common room had been three presents for Katherine; a broom polishing kit from Marlene, a Manchester United scarf from Lily, and a skinny, flat box with no sender. It was upon opening the box that she found a familiar photograph – and her father waving up at her.

Her third, and most cherished present, was the photograph from Jimmy Twill's counter at Quality Quidditch supplies in Hogsmeade; set into a brilliant, French-swirled gold frame.

Giant trees – hauled in by Hagrid – had lined the Great Hall, decorated with gold and silver – and actual live faeries. Breakfast had been spent with the Headmaster, Professor McGonagall, Professor Slughorn, and a few Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first years that wanted to experience Hogwarts at Christmas. Crackers were pulled, paper hats were worn, and an extravagant feast was put on for the table.

The trees remained up until the new year, when Katherine's friends, and the school at large, returned.

Tired from their journey from London and through the Scottish country side, Marlene and Lily had fallen into their beds either side of Katherine's without a word to her or each other that night. It was only at breakfast, when Lily ducked her head as Bertram passed; laughing with his friends, that Marlene put a verbal pick in the wall of ice between them.

"What's all that about?"

Lily shrugged, "We broke up."

Katherine swallowed her toast, it feeling larger than the piece she bit off.

"When did that happen?" asked Marlene.

Lily frowned at her bowl and abandoned her spoon in her porridge before sighing and looking up.

"I invited him over to meet my parents on Christmas Eve for dinner." said Lily.

"And?" asked Marlene, her truffle eyes not narrowing as Katherine had expected.

"They liked him enough," said Lily lightly; eyebrows raised, before her entire face twisted, "But so did _Petunia_ ,"

It was if music started playing in the soundtrack of their friendship again.

Marlene's lips twitched, and Katherine breathed a sigh of relief.

Lily went on, eyes squinting at her recollection of the seemingly fateful Christmas Eve.

"She thought that he was the best thing I have ever done – and all the little things he's said or done flashed through my head…and I knew I didn't like him as much as I had thought."

Marlene smiled down at her sausages, "He _is_ a bit of a tosspot."

So with the resuming of classes, came the resuming of Lily and Marlene's friendship – and Emmeline's sourness. Marlene and Lily had been chatting quietly, when Marlene broke the conversation and propped up her elbows on the table.

"Hey, Emmeline, there's a Hogsmeade trip for Valentines weekend." said Marlene, a goading smile there for all to see.

Emmeline didn't look up from her pamphlet labelled ' _Divination O.W.L's and their mystical power over your future.'_

"I could not possibly care less."

Marlene, Lily, and Katherine shared a smile.

Nothing had ever been more normal –

"Good morning, Spencer."

Katherine knew – as she to find slicked back hair, forget-me-not blues, and green-lined robes – that she should have touched the wood of the table as she dared think those words.

Katherine checked beside and behind herself before quietly, and carefully, replying, "Good morning."

Regulus' lips twitched before his tongue darted out to wet them, his neck twisting in the direction of the double doors at the end of the Great Hall.

"Will you walk with me?"

Katherine thought that perhaps he also harboured some regret over the terms on which they last parted. Knowing that he wouldn't pull his wand on her in the crowded halls of milling morning students – a rare situation due to his proclivity for finding her in dark, un-trafficked corners of the castle – she nodded.

"Of course." said Katherine, trying not to gulp and betray her unease.

As they got outside of the hall, Katherine realised that he was leading her towards the courtyard. Suddenly, Regulus stopped. Katherine had been too busy looking at him and hadn't noticed that they had crossed paths with someone.

"Sirius."

Sirius sighed, looking past both Katherine and Regulus, "Regulus."

Katherine looked between the two. The clash of green and red robes made them appear completely different to one another. She watched as Regulus raised his eyebrows at Sirius, his eyes glinting with dare.

Sirius simply crossed his arms.

Regulus sighed and turned to Katherine.

"I'll come find you another time." said Regulus briskly, before turning and striding off in a continuity of his speaking manner.

Katherine and Sirius stood alone.

"You're hanging around with my brother an awful lot." Sirius finally said, crossing his arms.

The startling direction of his words Katherine's way was still something that threw Katherine off guard.

"I wasn't aware that it was against the rules." flustered Katherine.

Sirius' lips quirked, "Unfortunately, that rule isn't an official one."

Katherine felt her lips purse.

"Just a prejudiced one."

Sirius' looked behind Katherine with glittering eyes, making a noise at the back of his throat.

" _It's not because he's a Slytherin._ " said Sirius in a sing-song voice, his steely gaze piercing her once more.

"Then why?" asked Katherine.

Sirius sighed, his head falling back before he lifted it and fixed her with a drained look.

"He's dangerous, Spencer." said Sirius solemnly, his eyes leaving her to scope the hallway around them.

Katherine almost laughed.

"He's fifteen."

"That's not –" Sirius broke off, sighed, and rubbed between his eyebrows, "You know what? I don't even care – do what you want."

The venom in his voice surprised her, and it only truly sank in while watching him stalk away. He had always been civil to her up until that point. She couldn't think of anything particularly wrong that she had said...

Like a bludger to the stomach, Katherine realised that he was stalking in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch.

It was the same direction that she needed to go in – there was a practise to take place that morning. James had pestered everyone about it enough the previous night for everyone to not want to risk missing it. Hell hath no fury like James Potter when someone didn't attend a Quidditch practise.

To her surprise Katherine wasn't the last person into the changing sheds that morning, Fabian rushing in and shaking out snow from his blond hair; right at her heels though. Rushing, Fabian didn't pause for so much as a hello, and immediately began stripping off his uniform as he walked to his locker.

Averting her eyes, and strategically keeping them from the side of the lockers where two heads of black hair – one messy and one neat – were pulling scarlet and gold jumpers over their white torsos, Katherine found Marlene already pulling on her shin guards.

In a rush, like Fabian, Katherine didn't bother going behind the curtain to change, and almost wished for Sirius to accidentally look up and feel an inch of shame as she furiously dressed into her Quidditch robes. In her eyes, he was as much to blame for their petty argument as she was.

"So, er, did –" Marlene nodded her head in the direction of the only other fair-haired member of the Gryffindor team, "His brother ever mend your poor little shattered heart?"

Katherine shrugged, busying herself with her arm guards, "He treats me like a child."

"That bastard."

It was while glancing at the twin of the source of their conversation, that Katherine saw a strange encounter between the seventh year and his fifth year cousin – who hadn't spared a glance in her direction while she was indecent like the rest of the boys on the team; shoulders angled away.

Sirius had stood up straight and narrowed his eyes up at his cousin, "What's the matter?"

Fabian dropped his Beater's bat on the toe of his boot.

"What do you mean?" Fabian blinked quickly and shook his head as he retrieved his bat from the floor of the shed, "Nothing's wrong – nothing out of the ordinary has happened – not to me – not lately."

Sirius frowned, lowering and turning his head like a dog flicked on the nose.

"Is this about –"

"Er, nah," said Gideon quickly, before shrugging and screwing up his lips, "It's just… _Slytherin_ have come to watch the practice today with our match against them coming up."

Flying out onto the Pitch, Katherine saw that Fabian had been right.

The whole Slytherin Quidditch team and a few dedicated friends and supporters had brought their snickers and keen eyes out to the Pitch despite the constant drizzle of snow.

Katherine's hands twitched around her broom as she spied Greengrass sitting amongst the huddle of green.

"Spencer," James swooped down, ruffling his hair as he looked to the stands, "You're playing against Black Saturday next – do you think you'll be right?"

Katherine shrugged, squinting at her vague memory of his performance in matches, "He's only caught, what – two Snitches this year?"

Katherine felt James' eyes slide to her.

"There's only been two Slytherin matches this year,"

Katherine winced.

James sighed.

"Look, don't worry too much," said James, shrugging and watching the blur of scarlet robes that passed them, "Sirius taught him to fly, we know his style."

A prickle of worry gripped Katherine's spine.

"But Sirius is…"

"Rather good," said James, nodding and looking at Katherine with an assuring smile, "But he's not a Seeker."

"But Regulus _is_ ," said Katherine, vocalising the list of traits she'd been ruminating over since the upcoming match had been announced, "He's smaller than Sirius; a perfect build for the position – he has the same broom as me – he's been flyer longer than me –"

"You want it more," said James simply, shrugging, "He just expects to win – knock him off his high hippogriff like I know you can and you'll do great."

Katherine couldn't gulp the trepidation away from her suddenly engorged tonsils.

" _If his pride's anything like a hippogriff's, I've insulted it enough to make him want to knock me off my broom_." mumbled Katherine.

James' gloved hand was a warm weight on Katherine's shoulder as he turned his broom away, preparing to swoop down.

"Just catch the Snitch first."

Wallowing in the sinking feeling in stomach, Katherine was too busy watching her Captain swoop down to the rest of the Gryffindor Chasers to see the exact cause of her curly-haired friend's scream. She turned back in enough time, however, to see her friend sway and dip like a feather to the sand basin of the pitch.

Katherine might as well have fallen with her with the speed at which both her broom and her stomach plummeted to the pile of scarlet robes.

James had reached the Keeper first, kneeling in the valleys of sand grains and sending it flying as he propped Marlene's head up.

To Katherine's relief, Marlene's eyes fluttered open – one edged in blue – at the soft _THUD_ 's of boots as the team landed.

Fabian's bow-shaped lips were open and his hands trembled as they skimmed Katherine's wrist.

"McKinnon, I'm so sorry – I didn't mean to –"

"How many fingers am I holding up?" James panted out, holding up two fingers.

"Four?" asked Marlene, her large brown eyes crossing.

James made a face, "Say two."

"Two?" said Marlene unsurely.

James grinned grimly and slapped her on the back.

"Perfect," James stood up off his haunches, "Now get back out there!"

Katherine, hesitantly, went to do the same; a leg falling over her broom –

"Oh, Katherine," said Fabian, catching the back of her robes, "Giles caught me at breakfast and told me to tell you to go see him sometime before dinner."

Katherine was disheartened by the reminder that she didn't have Defence Against the Dark Arts that day, her best subject, but simultaneously emboldened by the prospect of still seeing her favourite Professor.

* * *

"What in the world…?"

By the time Quidditch practise had ended, Katherine sported a matching shiner to Marlene's - the Bludger seeming to have a mind of it's own that morning. She'd walked through the halls to every class with it, forgetting it in the anticipation to catch up with Giles.

Katherine met Giles' gaze tentatively, "I had Quidditch practise."

Giles sighed and un-crossed his ankles.

"You have a sacred birthright, Katherine," Giles pushed himself up began to amble across the classroom, "You were chosen to destroy Voldemort, not fly around on a broomstick,"

Giles stopped in front of Katherine, suddenly smiling.

"I was channelling McGonagall." said Giles lightly.

"Fat luck," said Katherine, leaning against her chosen desk, "She's mad about Quidditch."

"Very true," conceded Giles, his eyes finding lint on his lapels, "It's the only thing she's more passionate about than Gryffindor House itself."

"Were you…" Katherine started before she hesitated, "What… what house were you in, Sir?"

"Slytherin," Giles answered nonchalantly before lifting his eyes from his lapels to her with a knowing smile, "I _know_."

"I mean… I'm sure you'd look dashing in green, Professor." Katherine recovered.

"Teaching was my ultimate ambition," Giles began, blinking, "To mould the minds of the next generation was – _is_ , everything to me."

Katherine was unable to stop her next words from spilling from her mouth, no matter how patronising they sounded to her, "Very noble, sir."

"Thank you, Katherine." accepted Giles, inclining his head.

It was while peering around the desk Giles leant against, that Katherine saw a stack of parchment and felt a pang of curiosity.

"So, sir…"

Giles looked up once more and Katherine felt her confidence slowly drain.

"Was my werewolf essay okay?" asked Katherine, tucking her hair behind her ears and managing a bashful smile, "I – I know that we're not supposed to get them back just yet – but I just put a lot of work into it and…"

With the barest of rustles, her essay – a bit more yellowed and rumpled than when she had turned it in the previous week – was thrust in front of her eyes; the inky midnight 'O' glittering up at her.

"Outstanding, Katherine," said Giles, turning back to right some parchment on his desk, "I especially enjoyed your take on the 'were' part of the creature – not many would look beyond the beast…"

Katherine felt indignity rise in her for the man at his attempt of an aloof expression. _He was probably used to prejudice_ , thought Katherine.

"They don't choose to be bitten," said Katherine, grappling for some words of reassurance, "Ask Remus – he'll tell you about my spiel on the fact that it's probably curable."

Giles' hand paused over his ink pot, his head lifted, and his eyebrows knitted together.

"Remus?" asked Giles, shaking his head gently as he turned to Katherine.

Katherine nodded, "Yeah, he helps me with my astronomy sometimes."

With the clearing of his throat, Giles returned to straightening items on his desk.

"What would lead you to chat to him about werewolves?"

Katherine panicked at the light defensive tone of his voice she hadn't ever heard before, "Oh, don't buy into it, sir – _please_."

There was a soft fall of air from Giles' nose as he smiled and blinked in the weak afternoon sunlight, turning look out the window.

"You don't have to worry about me there, Katherine."

"Sir?"

"Yes, Katherine?"

"Where will I go in the summer?"

Giles looked at Katherine for what felt like a very long moment, his face nerve-rackingly blank.

"Professor Dumbledore and I have had…conversations about your predicament," said Giles, nodding to himself before fixing her with his stare once more, "I'm sure that you're well aware that I am more than just a Professor."

Katherine wasn't sure whether his statement required a response, but she gave him one anyway, "Yes."

Giles nodded once, blinking slowly at a desk to Katherine's left.

"I believe I heard Miss Evans filling you in on the underground movement against the certain at large Dark Wizard of the moment – the order of the phoenix?"

It was only after she nodded that Katherine wondered if it had incriminated her for sourcing restricted knowledge.

But Giles didn't guffaw and rattle off a slaw of detentions, he just raised his eyebrows – still looking at the desk to Katherine's left – and blinked slowly.

"As I am a part of it, Dumbledore finds me well equipped to take on a temporary sort of guardianship role."

Katherine felt shot through in her surprise.

"I'll live with you?"

Giles head snapped up, his eyes abandoning the desk to Katherine's left.

"I can understand if perhaps you'd want to stay with one of your friends –"

"No,"

Giles' sudden pause made her wonder if she had said the word a little too loudly.

Katherine swallowed her embarrassment before continuing.

"I…I'd like to stay with you."

Giles lips picked up their slack as his fingers picked up his tie and went about tightening it.

"Oh, well…good… I guess," said Giles, he uncrossed and re-crossed his ankles, "I'm sure you'll find the Giles Manor to your tastes, but I can always make changes, I guess..."

"What should I call you?"

Giles blinked, "Sorry?"

"At home," said Katherine.

A bolt of unadulterated joy rattled through Katherine's chest at the connotation of the word, and she sought to clarify herself – if not to just say the word again.

"What should I call you when we're at home?"

Giles didn't so much as blink for a full six ticks on the clock behind him.

But Katherine blinked once, and when she opened her eyes he was suddenly smiling.

"When we're at _home_ ," said Giles, inclining his head as he continued to smile at Katherine, "you can call me by my first name."

"Felix, right?" asked Katherine, remembering how Dumbledore addressed him and instantly reminded of her potions lessons, "Like the luck potion?"

Giles forehead wrinkled in the slightest of frowns as he turned to fiddle with the lid on his ink pot, "Yes…like the luck potion…"

Katherine's sudden fondness of the man was exacerbated by the reminder that he knew her mother, and she felt – with the approaching summer and guardianship – that she was able to ask him something.

"Professor, you said that my mother taught you the Patronus charm," said Katherine, pausing only slightly, to her credit, before her next words, "What was hers?"

Giles' lips fell apart, the man sucking in a breath through them before blowing out a response, "A mare."

"Oh."

Katherine couldn't help but use the ever-underwhelming sound.

Giles tilted his head with a half-smile-half-frown, "Why do you seem so disheartened all of a sudden?"

Katherine thought that she could better demonstrate than explain, so she waved her wand, " _Expecto Patronum!_ "

The newly familiar silver fox burst out of the tip of her wand and galloped around the room before fizzling out between Katherine and Giles, the glitter leaving Giles' eyes as the creature left the realm of corporealness.

Giles inclined his head, peering at Katherine over his crossed arms.

"You aren't your mother, Katherine."

Katherine willed back the needling sensation at the corners of her eyes, turning her head – her offending eyes – away to be safe.

"I wouldn't know."

Out of her peripheral vision, Katherine saw Giles' arms drop from across his chest and heard a heavy sigh leave his lips.

"When summer comes," said Giles, Katherine seeing his feet shuffle, "I can tell you all about her – take you to her favourite spots – even show you the house you were born in – if you like?"

There wasn't a word, not one that wasn't atrociously underwhelming, that could convey just how _much_ Katherine would like that.

So she just bowed her head, and tried not to openly weep.

"I would like that very much."

"Now," said Giles, leaning back against his desk and crossing his ankles, "Any concerns with your studies?"

She left the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom a few minutes shy of curfew, feeling as if her soul was spangled with fresh dew, only to stumble across a scene as black as the two boys' last name.

"You left me there!" Regulus roared, breaking the drought with more than just his voice, "You went to greener pastures at Potter's and –"

Sirius' eyes were a grey wildfire of exasperation, "I didn't leave _you_ , Regulus –"

"Well, you didn't ask me if I wanted to go with you!"

Regulus trembled with lividity, his eyes dangerously glassy.

Sirius went still and quiet.

 _Bitter are the wars between brothers_ , thought Katherine, as she held herself tightly to the back of a suit of armour.

With each quiet second that passed, Regulus seemed to lose more and more of his gusto.

"Regulus… _did_ you want to go with me?" Sirius spoke into the space – the _rift_ – between them.

Regulus let out a hard, accusing breath through his lips, shaking his head incredulously. And then he broke Katherine's heart in four words.

"Of course I did."

His eyes grazed Sirius with evaporating fury, still holding himself wide and tall despite being only fifteen.

Sirius' shoulders dropped and he advanced towards his look-a-like, "Reg, I didn't think –"

Regulus stepped back from his older brother with cutting eyes.

"No, you didn't, you never do." said Regulus, lowly and firmly.

Sirius stopped short, his hand falling from the stagnant air between them.

And for a moment, they just looked at one another. But Katherine was sure that they weren't seeing each other. They looked upon each other as opponents, or worse; strangers.

"You can take this back too –" Regulus dropped a metallic shard on the ground between them "– I don't need a reminder of the shame you've made of my family's flesh."

Sirius plunged to the ground, closely examining the shard for any damage; on his knees.

Regulus lifted his chin, narrowed his eyes one last time, and then left.

Sirius didn't rise.

Katherine, feeling as if she were prying, returned to the common room, and when Sirius returned she did her best to not stare.

Lily, however, indulged in rare display of indiscreetness, and stared at him. Most people had - all day. There was a rumour going around that he had run away from home after Christmas. A rumour Katherine only heard _after_ Quidditch practise. A rumour she only heard _after_ she unknowingly picked an argument with him about his younger brother.

"What is it, Evans?" asked Sirius, still staring intensely into the fire.

Lily shifted on the couch, "What?"

"You're staring at me like I'm in one of those muggle zoos." said Sirius, finally looking away from the fire and fixing her with a tired expression.

Lily looked down at the cushion on her lap and picked at the loose threads, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry to hear about what happened over Christmas."

It was her that couldn't meet his eyes this time.

Sirius seemed to relish in her discomfort.

"Oh, you mean being disowned and running away from home?" asked Sirius lightly, his eyebrows raised and his lips on the way.

"Yeah-"

"Don't look at me like I'm some orphan, Evans," said Sirius dismissively before he looked back to the fire, "James took me in and I haven't looked back."

Lily's eyes left the back of his head and found the boys' stairs.

"That was nice of him." said Lily absently.

"No," said Sirius, just as absently, his face lighter, "That's just James."

* * *

Lily rediscovered her intuitiveness and had headed for the dormitory after a solid ten minutes of silence with Sirius in the common room. Katherine had followed. It was in the dormitory that Lily became to focus of a room for the first time all day.

"How's your family, Lily?" asked Alice, "Is your Mother over her carolling phase yet?"

"She is, thank Merlin," Lily breathed out in relief, but then her face twisted, "But Petunia finally brought _Vernon Dursley_ home."

"How long have they been dating again?" asked Marlene, plopping down across Lily's bed on her stomach, "Two years or something?"

Lily couldn't look any less enthused.

"Yeah, around that," Lily waved her hand, "Anyway, he's working for some hardware store and I gave serious thought to charming the hammers there to beat him to death."

"That bad?" asked Katherine.

"He's an arrogant _toad!_ " Lily groaned, falling back and casting her forearm across her eyes, "You should have seen Dad's face when the boy asked for his blessing to ask Petunia to marry him."

"Wait," Marlene halted her, a mean smile spreading across her face, "Horse face is getting hitched?"

Lily's lips twitched.

"Vernon hasn't asked _her_ yet, he's waiting for his inheritance from his Grandmother's will," Lily explained, "But Petunia knows, naturally, and she's already planning it for some time in seventy-eight."

"Well, once she's moved out, life will be gravy for you, Evans," insisted Marlene cheerfully, "Your parents are the greatest Muggles I've ever met, it'll be like being an only child."

Lily's smile only lasted until Marlene looked away.

But Katherine didn't, look away that is, and found herself curious at Lily's reaction.

And when the lights went out and the dormitory fell under a spell of sleep, Katherine slipped into Lily's bed.

"You thought about running away, didn't you?"

"Ever since I started Hogwarts," Lily responded so quickly that it made Katherine's chest ache, "My parents are great, but… they just don't understand,"

Lily blew out a breath, pulling the blanket to her lips.

"After I graduate Hogwarts, I'm going to have to get a Magical job and live in the Magical world anyway… it's where I belong."

"Where would you go?" asked Katherine.

"What do you mean?" whispered Lily.

"If you ran away." said Katherine.

There was a very long pause before Lily spoke again.

"I… I don't know."

Katherine took a breath, "You know, you're always welcome with me,"

She had to steel herself to continue – the words out in the open.

"I might not have known you for as long as the other girls… but –"

Lily's hands graduated from their hold on the blanket to Katherine's own hands. She squeezed gently.

"Thank you,"

Katherine's chest felt uncomfortably tight.

"You may not have known me as long as the other girls, but," Lily paused, "Oh, Katherine, I feel as if we'll be like sisters soon enough!"

Lily laughed, throwing her head back on the pillow before turning back to look at Katherine.

"With _really_ different hair!

Katherine smiled, feeling light with the knowledge that she herself had somewhere to go and could help one of the friends who always helped her.

"So if you ever need somewhere to stay, you won't hesitate to owl?"

"Not a second," said Lily, "But only if you promise to do the same."

Katherine freed her hand from the confines of the blanket.

"Pinky promise?"

Lily smiled, locking her red-nailed pinky with Katherine's.

"Pinky promise."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!** **:)**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Grim Prospects

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 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 _ **Epochs**_ **; Thank you for the review! I'm so very glad you've enjoyed the sub plots I've introduced that kind of go against canon. I was worried that they were boring and I was forcing them upon people when they just wanted more marauders. And you caught the muggle girl reference – I'm impressed, and yes; you were right! It's a short relief that you haven't guessed the secret admirer on me – but I'd love to hear your theories! Margaret Abbott will be thoroughly unravelled throughout this story and she will have a great impact on the story line despite not being presently alive – so I hope you stick around to see how it plays out.**

 _ **bridget237**_ **; Hawthorne** _ **was**_ **the blond man, yes – there was a section I edited out a few weeks ago that mentioned him by name, but I saw in my reader statistics that I lost too many readers with the lag in action in the first couple chapters (Chapter one has been visited over a thousand times but then drops off to one or two hundred per chapter after), so I revised them and cut bits out (non-essential bits, of course). And Lucky will be revealed in Chapter 24 – so you won't have to wait long for that reveal.**

* * *

It wasn't long after the pine trees were dragged; wilted and candle-less, from the Great Hall, that pink garlands, hearts, and house elves dressed as cupid became the new obstacles to combat when walking the halls.

It wasn't until the morning of Valentine's Day that Katherine became privy to the not-so-glittery potions underbelly of the occasion, Gwenolg Jones having pulled a wiry, bespectacled Damocles away from his breakfast at the Ravenclaw table.

"Are you sure you want to use it on Dagworth?" Damocles loosened his looped scarf, lowering his voice as he watched passer-by's, "He's older and might be a bit hard to handle when hopped up on such a potion…"

Gwenolg frowned, fondling her velvet sack of coins instead of extending it to Damocles.

"Of age boys just have something else… what's the word I'm looking for?" Gwenolg Jones' frown evaporated, and she grinned, pointing, "Apparition licenses!"

Damocles sighed, held out his hand, and accepted the payment. It was as he pocketed it that his eyes lifted, and found Katherine watching the exchange.

"Katherine!" said Damocles, leaving Gwenolg to her friends and taking the short step up the Gryffindor table, "How are you?"

"Great," said Katherine, smiling as she gulped down her mouthful of food, "And yourself? I feel as if I haven't seen you around at all…"

Damocles lifted his wiry specs up his nose, grinning bashfully, "The lead up to Valentine's day is a busy time for me – big business,"

He leant in closer, lifting his eyebrows conspiratorially.

"And between that, my classes, and trying to get ministry approval for my Wolfsbane potion…"

"You've finished it, then?" asked Katherine, trying to not appear too surprised for the sake of his ego.

The first dinner of term felt only mere weeks ago – not the months that it had been.

"Just before Christmas," Damocles grinned, flicking his hand dismissively at the impressiveness of it, "Trialled it on my inflicted cousin on the full moon when I went home for the holidays – worked a treat."

"Wolfsbane?"

Both Katherine and Damocles looked up.

Remus looked on from across the table, blinking and frowning.

"Yes," said Damocles swiftly, clinically, "A potion to help a werewolf keep their mind throughout a full moon,"

Damocles extended a hand across the table, the lapels of his robes falling into a pool of spilt porridge. He didn't seem to notice.

"Remus, right?" guessed Damocles, grinning crookedly, "I'm Damocles Belby."

Remus gingerly returned the handshake, "How'd you…"

"Know your name?" asked Damocles, "Well I saw Katherine on your arm at the Christmas party, of course,"

Damocles shrugged, realised he had been shaking Remus' hand for, perhaps, too long, and then shrugged; letting go.

"I meant to introduce myself then but I just never got around to it."

Remus nodded, but then hesitated.

"This potion," said Remus, slowly, "It really works?"

Damocles eyes lit up behind his specs, "I'd happily explain the mechanisms to you, if you'd like?"

"Belby!"

Damocles turned over his shoulder, nodded, turned back to Katherine and Remus, and then sighed.

"My duty to the teenage population of Hogwarts calls, I'm afraid," said Damocles as he turned, "I'll see you around, Remus Lupin."

Around Damocles retreating back came Lily and James, their strides quick.

James grinned, jogging at her side, "We can't disappoint them."

"Who?"

"Your friends," said James, ruffling his hair, "How are they supposed to tell you that I'm no good if you won't go out with me?"

Lily's lips twitched – as if to smile – but then she sat down with a huff beside Katherine.

James laughed as he settled further down the table with Sirius and Peter.

All Katherine received, that Valentine's Day, was a request from Giles to help him lug iguanas up from Hagrid's hut to the castle while everyone was down in Hogsmeade on the weekend.

She had an inkling, a divine one in fact, that she may also get divination homework as she trudged all the way up to the classroom.

"Crystal-gazing is a particularly refined art. I do not expect any of you to See when first you peer into the Orb's infinite depths."

Professor Brown flitted just out of the corner of Katherine's eye.

"Do you see anything, Miss Spencer?"

Katherine's eyes lifted from the ball as a purple butterfly fluttered by the window, and she thought it was a sign if she ever saw one.

"A butterfly, Professor." lied Katherine.

Lily smiled from behind Professor Brown, turning to watch the offending butterfly dance out of vision.

"Very good…very good…" said Professor Brown, gazing alongside Katherine into the crystal ball, "Do you know what that means, girl?"

Professor Brown's eyes, keen, lifted to Katherine. An eyebrow followed.

"No?" Professor Brown shook her head, tracing an overgrown fingernail over the roundness of the crystal ball, "A Butterfly hints that a visitor to do with your love life will come as spring turns into summer."

Katherine, wanting to know if the situation was as humorous as she thought it was, lifted her eyes and found Lily smiling behind her thin fingers.

Spurred on by her friend's amusement, Katherine set her sights on the window and found the catalyst to send her from an Exceeds Expectations to an Outstanding.

"Oh – wait," said Katherine, crafting a tone she hoped wasn't too false, "It's turning into an owl."

Professor Brown, however keen, seemed to have her vision clouded by interest.

 _And sherry_ , thought Katherine, her nose wrinkling at the bitter smell as her Professor swayed closer and closer.

"A most unfortunate turn for you, Miss Spencer," said Professor Brown, tapping the top of the crystal ball, "An owl foretells of bad tidings and prophecy."

Katherine couldn't stop her eyebrows raising, "That's more like it."

Professor Brown didn't seem to hear, snapping her fingers.

"How about your cup – pass it up, girl, the future waits for no one."

Katherine, blinking and fumbling in her haste, handed up the floral porcelain.

Professor Brown tilted the cup left, right, round and round, and then gasped. Her long nails relinquished their over-lapping hold from around the delicate white handle. The cup shattered against the ground with a tinkling _SMASH_.

With a long nailed hand clutching her robes against her chest and trembling lips, Professor Brown leant back down, and whispered, "You have… _the grim!_ "

Something wilted in Katherine's chest.

"The grim?" asked Katherine.

Lily's tulip-red fingernails rifled through the pages of her textbook before trailing down a page a pausing.

"It's an omen of death." said Lily, frowning.

Katherine felt smothered in seriousness, and cleared her throat, trying for a smile.

"Bad tidings…death…" said Katherine, grinning in a false way she hoped Lily wouldn't see through and leaning back on her chair, "Brilliant, I'll tell McGonagall and she might excuse me from the match against Slytherin."

Lily raised her thin arches, "Because you might die?"

Her next smile, Katherine didn't have to fake.

"Because I might lose."

Professor Brown had moved on, the tremble from her lips gone. Her lips were instead wrapping around more words of romance – to Marlene this time – about a Crossbill bird being a sign for your future partner being argumentative. Emmeline had a lot to say about the credibility of such claims when their Professor moved on to another table.

Katherine, and her friends, also moved on – from news of Katherine's untimely death. Well, she _tried_ to, until the _news_ came to _her_ two days later on Saturday morning.

 **TWELVE YEARS SINCE THE SPENCER SLAUGHTER**

Katherine took one look at the title of the Daily Prophet and then spent the rest of her time looking at the usual photograph of her parents used when their names were dragged back through the press. She ignored the spiel about the tragedy of the attack taking place on their daughter's birthday, and that the day had come about again. She ignored the wondering of Jasmine Copper as to how many birthday's Katherine had left.

Over the sound of the usual breakfast scuffling in the Great Hall, Katherine still _heard_ Lily and Marlene's gazes on her.

Considering that it was a Hogsmeade Saturday, one following Valentine's Day at that, it was a feat.

"It's your birthday."

There wasn't so much as a questioning lilt in Marlene's words.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Lily's words, however, were full of question – indignantly so.

Katherine didn't have an answer that wouldn't seem like she were fishing for sympathy. Should she tell them that she had never celebrated it before? Should she tell them that she didn't even know that it was the day on which her parents were murdered until a few months ago?

Marlene frowned and glanced sideways at Lily.

"We should have known, Lily," said Marlene, quietly – almost too quiet for Katherine to hear, "Well, _I_ should have known – _I've been reading these clippings for years…_ "

"I guess it's a good thing you can't come to Hogsmeade then,"

Katherine found her chest tight at Lily's words – _had Lily finally had enough of her?_

Looking up, though, Katherine found Lily rising up from her seat and grinning.

"We can still get you presents and have them be a surprise," said Lily, nodding to Marlene and proffering her arm for linking, "Come on, Marlene."

Emmeline scowl was unmissable as Katherine watched her two friends skip off arm in arm down the Great Hall; Lily's orange peacoat and Marlene's long wine coloured winter cloak blurring into the others leaving the hall arm in arm.

Even the Slytherin's had indulged in coupling up against the winter cold for the weekend, the Head Girl and her betrothed strolling by on their way out of the castle and down to Hogsmeade.

No matter how spirited the entire student body was, there were a few immune to the feelings inspired by a trip from the school falling just after Valentine's Day. Gideon Prewett was all but stomping about, reprimanding students trying to sneak down to the adjacent town without permission slips.

Katherine found herself so averse to the going ons that she started sneezing as she made her way to waste time with a stroll around the Quidditch Pitch before meeting with Giles.

" _Constantly sneezing on a Saturday means that you will meet the love of your life Sunday next…_ " murmured Professor Brown as she passed on her way out into the snow.

Katherine made a note to not leave her dormitory two Sundays from then, and changed her direction for a walk around the lake instead.

It was by the large beech tree by the frozen edge that Katherine found a mass of black fur, and icy eyes peeking out from beneath it as she neared.

"Oh!"

Katherine's hand had flown to her chest with her startle at the presence. She hadn't expected to come across anyone. Man or beast. But, she realised, upon looking closer, that it wasn't very much of a beast. It was a dog – a wolfhound – and it was still round in the face; still a puppy.

The ears pricked up and its tail beat with cold, hollow _THUD's_ against the dirt.

"Have you been out in the cold long?" asked Katherine, her feet pulling her toward where it laid, "Where's your family – your, er, pack?"

The ears fell down the sides of the dog's face, its tail slowed to a wiggle, and the dog just blinked at Katherine.

"No family?" asked Katherine, slowly kneeling, "Me either,"

The dog let its head fall forward onto its paws, from there it gazed up at Katherine; tail wagging again.

Katherine suddenly felt a chasm open up in the middle of her head, like an unfurling flower, for which steady thought coursed through; touching memories together.

"I remember you – you chased Mrs Norris around the castle before Christmas,"

The dog's head lifted, almost as if the dog had leant back to appraise her for discovering its identity.

The action lured Katherine's arm forward unthinkingly, and her fingers settled between the dog's ears before she knew what she was doing. Tentative – unsure of how stray the dog was – Katherine let her fingers splay through the soft black fur and slip to the base of its neck.

"It's too bad you couldn't have done it again today," Katherine sighed, smiling back at the dog as it's tongue flopped out of its mouth; panting at her pats, "It would have given everyone else something else to talk about beside their bleeding chocolates and flowers…"

The dog rolled onto its side, displaying its belly – and it's gender – for Katherine, as if sensing that it would help distract her.

 _It did_ , and Katherine found herself speaking before she could stop herself.

"Would you believe that, on today of all days, I had to watch the boy I used to like moon over someone else – who was on the arm of another someone else?" asked Katherine, hand raking up and down the dog's lithe chest.

The dog's arms wobbled where he held them up and away for Katherine to scratch his ribs. His tongue still lolled happily out of his mouth, but his eyes watched her – _listening_.

"After watching my last family members avada'd the day before term started, being locked in a cupboard with devil snare, nearly being drowned, getting attacked by a Dementor – _twice_ , and having my broom jinxed," Katherine took a breath, smiling – albeit wryly – at getting everything out at once, "You'd think that I could have a wee bit of a break…"

Katherine's hand tired and she pulled it back to her knees and sighed, smiling as the dog rolled back up onto his paws.

"This 'being the prophesized defeat of Lord Voldemort' thing is really turning me into a wet blanket, sorry," said Katherine, ruffling between his ears.

She watched the dog as she thought of everything she had revealed, and then ran her hand along the side of his face, like she would a horse.

"It's not all bad, I have some great friends – Lily and Marlene," said Katherine as she stroked the dog's neck, "They'd love you,"

The dog leant into each and every stroke from his whiskers, beneath his ear, and to his shoulder.

Katherine followed her own movements, hesitating and feeling herself frown.

"And I have some other friends…well… I _think_ we're friends,"

Katherine brought her other hand up so that she could brush the dog down from his shoulders, to busy herself to say what she barely let herself think on.

"I had an argument, you see, with someone I'm on the Quidditch team with… and I don't know whether I'm welcome wherever he is anymore…" said Katherine, knowing she was holding back – and from a dog at that, "It's a shame, because…well,"

Katherine's mind reeled, and she lowered her face as close to the dog's as she deigned knowing it was most probably unwashed to whisper.

"Some people say he's mean," said Katherine, feeling her cheeks lift and her lips stretch, "But I think he's really witty…"

"Speaking aloud as you write into your diary about me, Spencer?"

Katherine felt her brain rattle in her skull from the force of her jump.

The dog, however, had gone deathly still as it surveyed the scene Regulus Black strolled onto.

"Now, I know I don't come from the sanest of families," said Regulus loftily, crossing his arms and ankles as he leant against the tree, "But I only have one Aunt that talks to herself – and _we_ all talk about _her_ when she passes out after too much firewhiskey at gatherings."

Indignation flared through Katherine, and she longed to spit out a response – no matter how half-baked.

"I was talking to the dog."

Regulus blinked, "Because that's so much better."

Katherine gathered herself; drawing her hands to her knees, her shoulders back, and lips to a purse.

"It seems that you deem me sane enough to speak to and not about when I'm unconscious or absent from the room."

Regulus raised a hand to a branch, slinging his weight across his hips; bending a leg and craning his neck as he smiled amusedly down on Katherine.

"Giles is asking around for you."

"Oh, blast!"

Katherine shot to her feet, brushing down her robes and ensuring that their contents hadn't spilled out onto the grass.

"I forgot that I was supposed to meet him…"

Regulus shifted in the corner of her eye, his arms dropping to his sides.

"I'm not sure how long you'll be tied up with whatever he needs you for, but…" said Regulus, hesitating and taking a step toward her with an inclined head, "Would you like to meet me afterwards –"

An uncharacteristic _BARK_ from the dog almost made Katherine yell out in surprise – it was loud, and crisp, and almost too much for her ears from where she stood beside it.

Regulus' lips curled back in a sneer, and he peered down his nose at the source of the interruption with the upmost distaste.

"Is this mutt serious?"

"He's not a –"

"Concern of mine," said Regulus coolly, lifting a hand and frowning, "I'll be off – I suggest you do the same before you catch something…unsavoury,"

Katherine, blinking after Regulus Black as she so often did, wondered whether it would ever be the other way around.

But sometime in her wondering, Regulus turned back around.

"Oh," said Regulus, eyes sparkling and teeth glinting, "And, Katherine?"

Katherine sighed, but met his eye to show her engagement.

"Happy Birthday."

Katherine watched as Regulus slipped his hands into the pockets of his trousers and strolled off at a leisurely pace.

As he resumed his circuit around the Black Lake, Katherine resumed her previous thought trail.

"See you," said Katherine, crouching back down by the dog.

She tried to convey her sympathy for the dog through her pats.

"And you didn't hear it from me, but there's an antechamber off the entrance hall concealed behind a rook statue – there's a room with a fireplace and couch inside, just in case you get cold...and understand English…"

Once she tore herself away from the dog and tore across the grounds, she found that Giles was waiting patiently outside Hagrid's hut for her. He was a speck of tweed against the powdered lawns as Katherine approached the bricked structure and the plume of smoke twirling up out of it.

Everything she had dreaded about the task was alleviated by Giles' prompt news that they would be using their wands to levitate the cages up to the Defence classroom as opposed to carrying them. The taunting glow of the fireplace against Hagrid's window panes wasn't to last for more than six whole minutes – as that was all the time that it took to divide the cages between Giles and Katherine, levitate them, and walk them up to the castle.

It was easier than any class practical she had ever completed. Giles could have done it alone, even. And Katherine realised, when his tea set was already out upon their arrival at the classroom, that he had an ulterior motive in asking for her help.

"How was your Valentine's Day on Thursday, Katherine?" asked Giles, pouring the tea into Katherine's cup with a practiced hand.

A breath found its way in sharply through Katherine's nose, and it was all she could do to not laugh manically.

"Was it Valentine's Day?" asked Katherine, blinking in the unaffected manner she'd honed since being rejected in the Three Broomsticks, "I didn't notice."

Giles paused his pouring, considered Katherine, and then resumed his pouring with a bowed head.

"My apologies," said Giles, hesitating the barest of seconds, "I thought you were inclined towards Mister Prewett."

She no longer felt a pull in her jaw, or an icy feeling in her neck at his name.

"He didn't feel anything of the sort toward me, unfortunately."

Giles nodded once, clearing his throat, "I was aware of his…philandering with Miss Black, but I didn't think that –"

"It's okay, Professor." said Katherine, blinking and smiling under his attempt to not hurt her feelings.

"Don't be absurd," Giles waved a hand, using his other to throw pinches of food flakes into one of the iguana cages, "She hasn't accomplished half of what you have."

"She's _pretty_ , Professor," said Katherine, trying not to sound condescending, "And soft spoken, and feminine, and charming –"

"You weren't born to be soft, Katherine," said Giles, with a gentle incline of his head and an expression equally so, "You were born as an unstoppable force of good."

A reverberating _CRASH_ from down the hallway saved Katherine from having to blush and respond demurely.

Giles pushed up out of his chair and crossed to his open door, "What in the blue blazes is…"

Katherine reached the door before his words failed him, and was able to see the spectacle for herself.

James and Peter leant out of an alcove across the hallway, wincing at something further down.

Katherine followed their eyes and found a bed of scattered glass at the bottom of the divination stairs; crooked, from a rushed deploying. Down them sped two sets of different coloured robes.

"How many?" bleated Sybil Trelawney, eyes magnified by her glasses as she scurried after Sirius' robes, "How many crows did you see?"

"I think he's about to see stars if he doesn't watch where he's going." murmured James, leaning his shoulder against the stone wall of the hallway as he watched on; amused.

Sirius ran with wild grace, his neck twisting so he could glance over his shoulder and then glance back to watch his step, his face glimpsed by Katherine for brief moments in the throes of desperation to escape.

But then his slapping shoes created enough wind that she felt it against her knees – coming ever closer.

His eyes pierced her mid-step, and he grinned, "Wotcher, Spencer!"

His robes swished past, leaving Katherine to blink in his wake and wonder whether her half-formed smile of confusion took place in enough time for him to catch. She also had to wonder when her Head of House had arrived, the tall stiff tartan pole in the middle of the hallway that caught all the moving parts of trouble.

"Potter," said McGonagall, her eyebrows lowered as far as possible, shaking her head gently, "What in Merlin's name is wrong with your friend?"

" _One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding, four for a birth, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told…_ " sang Sybill.

"I was just going to ask Professor Brown about an omen and _that_ loony –" Sirius' eyes flashed with exasperation in Sybil's direction "– all but jumped on a poor bloke just gazing away the time until Professor Brown returned from a sherry in her quarters…"

"Well, go on then – the lot of you," said McGonagall, raising her hands in a shooing motion.

Katherine, assuming she was a part of 'the lot', also went to go.

"Not you, Katherine,"

James glanced back in sympathy before he stole around the corner with Sirius and Peter.

"I have your aptitude results."

The scroll of parchment was extended through the considerably easier to breathe air.

"Thank you, Professor." said Katherine, coveting the scroll with her eyes and longing to pull the ribbon from around it.

"The delay was due to conflicting results," said McGonagall, peering over her spectacles, "But I expect to see you in my office at the end of your first lesson on Monday for your counselling session."

No amount of sternness could squash Katherine's excitement.

"Of course, Professor." said Katherine, bowing her head as she turned to begin the journey back to her dormitory – to open her results privately.

" _Eight for a wish, nine for a kiss…_ " Sybil still sang, only stopping when a blur of blonde hair and Ravenclaw robes came around the corner, "Oh, hello, Pandora!"

"Sybil," said Pandora with an airy but strangely sincere smile, "An acorn just fell down on me from the tree I was sitting under – do you wish to join me for tea and share in some of my forthcoming luck?"

Sybil toyed with the ends of her scarf, nibbling on her lower lip, "Only if it's chai – I need to be ready to cast myself into the beyond for my crystal gazing later."

Upon reaching her dormitory, Katherine came into the knowledge that she would best suit the profession of healing, and she also came into the possession of a set of eagle feathered quills and a membership at _Sprintwitches Sporting Needs_ in Hogsmeade.

It was as she thanked Lily and examined her new quills that Marlene plopped down beside Katherine on her bed.

"What's this?" asked Marlene.

Not looking up from her quills and seeing Marlene's neck turned in the vague direction of her bedside, Katherine assumed her friend was asking about the scroll.

"I finally got my aptitude test back," said Katherine, testing the sharp tip of the quill against her fingertip, "Healing."

"Just like me!"

At Lily's loud realisation, Katherine's hand slipped and her new quill drew a bead of blood.

"I always wanted to be a nurse before I found out about magic," said Katherine, pressing her bleeding finger to her lips, "I'm not all that surprised."

"My mum's a nurse, I was going to follow in her footsteps until I got my letter," Lily nodded, loosely plaiting her hair, "I wasn't all that surprised either."

"So, did Professor Brown issue it, then?" asked Marlene, laughing shortly as she fell back against Katherine's pillows, "It _would_ be her idea of deciding your future with a crystal ball…"

Katherine, bleeding and putting her quills down, finally caught the strangeness of Marlene's words.

"What?"

Marlene sat up and waved a hand at Katherine's bedside table, "The only thing up here is a crystal ball."

And she was right.

"That's not…" Katherine shook her head, disbelief numbing her neck, "My aptitude test is on my bed, that's – _that_ … is…"

"Beautiful!" exclaimed Lily, pulling out her Divination textbook from her trunk.

It was a crystal ball, much like the ones she had stared into on Valentine's Day in Divination, but with a difference. It didn't swirl with grey tendrils of smoke. Glittering flowers – jasmine – were iridescent in the dusk falling over the dormitory, charmed in a perpetual cycle of falling through the metallic inky liquid inside the ball.

"Let's see…Jasmine…Jasmine…" Lily traced her finger down the page of her text book, "Jasmine represents purity and love, blooming in the early evening – a time when it is also commonly thought that love does too…"

Marlene glanced up with a smile, blinking, "It just means some bloke fancies her, Lily."

Lily just hummed, eyeing the crystal ball.

"Who do you think sent it?"

* * *

Minutes after the beginning of period two on Monday, Potions was underway and Katherine was rushing through the halls, worried that she would be late.

The results of her newly returned aptitude test and her career counselling session with McGonagall was fresh in her mind. They had decided easily that if she lived beyond a confrontation with Voldemort, that she would pursue Healing. Then they had to decide of the subjects she would be taking the next year.

The following year she would drop; Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic. She only needed Potions, Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology. She was hopeful to take Alchemy too, which would only further aid her in healing. But she couldn't bring herself to drop Defence or Ancient Runes.

Coming up behind the Fifth Year Gryffindor boys, Katherine realised that she couldn't be _too_ late to Potions.

"Look, it's Aubrey." said James to his friends, a smile surfacing and pushing his glasses further up his nose than usual.

"Curse him something severe, James!" said Peter, laughing as he eyed the back of Aubrey's robes with undisguised glee.

"Mates, if it's not out of retaliation, it's just mean."

Katherine's eyes lifted from the floor in front of her shoes and saw a glimpse of a Sirius she hadn't met yet. She didn't let her eyes linger long, making sure her mouth was firmly shut as she continued on around them to class.

All three of his friends had looked to Sirius, a mixture of incredulity and trepidation on their faces.

Peter shook his head in confusion, "Mean?"

Sirius blinked, amused and ever so condescending.

"Yeah, you know, _bullying_."

James managed to close his mouth.

"Sirius is turning into Remus." teased James, smiling widely and whacking Sirius on the back.

Remus raised his eyebrows, "It's nice to finally have an ally."

Sirius laughed, holding up his hands.

"Woah, Mister Prefect," said Sirius, eyes glittering, "I'm not going for sainthood just yet, don't get too excited."

James slung an arm around Sirius' shoulders, pacified by Sirius' amendment.

"What's with the change, Sirius?" asked Peter, his voice sounding now from behind Katherine.

Her back to the boys, Katherine didn't need to see Sirius to know that he had shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"If Evans doesn't hear that James is being a menace, she might give him a go."

"That actually….makes…sense." said Remus, slowly.

"Always the tone of surprise." said Sirius, not suffering any speech delays or lapse in rearing wit.

A short interlude of whistling was broken as Katherine touched down to the lowest floor without actually entering the old dungeons.

"Can we still shoot gum up the ghosts' noses?" asked Peter, his voice climbing in question.

As Katherine slowed by the Potions' classroom door, she turned as she pulled the handle in enough time to be privy to Remus slinging his arm around Peter's shoulders.

"Of course, Pete." Remus assured his friend solemnly.

 _She thought it would have been Sirius' domain to hold promise to their old ways_ , thought Katherine privately as she took her seat next to Lily.

Potions served as an awakening call for Katherine to the desperation of her fellow students as they all edged closer and closer to their O.W.L's. James Potter was the port of call for most Gryffindors, Snape for the Slytherin's, and the need of love potions had passed. Wit Sharpening and Wide-Awake potions were on the lips of every requester.

It was in getting over her surprise at James Potter's unanimous appointment as a go-to potion brewer, remembering that this father was a potioneer, that Katherine was surprised yet again in the common room before Lunch that none of her and the girls' male counterparts had decided on a career.

Katherine and Marlene were by the window, Katherine half-listening to the names Marlene rattled off as suspects for the crystal ball-giver. The thought of it having actually come from a walking, breathing, boy made Katherine blush too much. Instead, she focused on whether or not James Potter was going to catch his Snitch again.

"You could teach." said James, letting go of his Snitch before catching it again.

Sirius looked to James, bow-shaped lips slackening and sneering in a symbiotic expression of quiet horror.

"I could also kill myself." said Sirius coolly, snatching the Snitch seconds before James did.

James pried the gold ball back from Sirius' hand with a scandalised look, smoothing out the flittering wings.

"You're no Seeker." James admonished him playfully, one hand going to his hair and the other releasing the Snitch again.

"Neither are you." said Sirius, his tone lighter than before and with a twitch at his lips.

Footsteps on the stairs hooked through Katherine's thoughts and redirected them to the mouth, from which spilt a blaze of red hair.

"Katherine! Marlene!" said Lily brightly, her hair swishing as she touched down on the common room floor, "Coming to lunch?"

Katherine and Marlene hauled themselves up from one of the red over-stuffed couches in answer.

Marlene's fleshy arm hooked through Katherine's, tugging her after Lily arm-in-arm.

Katherine threw a glance over her shoulder before she reached the portrait hole, checking to make sure her wand hadn't fallen out on the couch.

It was then that she saw James standing up and trying to coral his friends into doing the same.

"So have you thought about what you're going to say in your career counselling session with McGonagall?" asked Katherine, letting her eyes slide sideways from the perpetually surprising staircase, "Yours is at three right?"

"Don't remind me," groaned Marlene before she blinked and sighed, "I…"

Marlene ducked her head and hid her face beneath her fountain of curls, kicking the stone beneath her feet.

"I think that I might just go into muggle relations at the Ministry…"

The dulcet tones of her usually fruity voice wasn't lost on Katherine, and she felt – especially as the focus of her friends had been on Katherine as of late – that she should repay their attention.

"Is that what you want, Marley?" asked Katherine.

"Honestly?" Marlene blinked, smiling wistfully at the line of wall sconces laid out before them in the entrance hall, "Quidditch is the only thing I've ever wanted to do – that I've ever been _good_ at."

Katherine thought it made a lot of sense, what with Marlene's devotion to the sport.

"Be a professional player?"

"Yeah," said Marlene, looking down once again for a brief moment before picking herself back up – both physically and in spirits, "That or I could always hit Rosmerta up for a bartending job."

All talk of bartending ceased at the swirl of tartan robes around the corner, the girls waiting for it to pass before speaking freely once more. It never did.

McGonagall's boots slowed by Katherine, her wringing a scroll of parchment in her hands.

"Spencer, can I talk you?" asked McGonagall, inclining her head.

Marlene spared Katherine a glance, grasped that it was a request for a private conversation, slipped her arm away, and caught up with Lily.

"Of course, Professor." said Katherine, watching her friend's curls bounce around the corner.

McGonagall pursed her lips, "It's about your desire to take Alchemy next year."

Katherine felt a similiar trepidation to that which she felt when she was rejected in the Three Broomsticks.

"Oh?"

McGonagall nodded, shifting her hold on the scroll in her hands, "So far, there aren't enough students."

The words weighed on Katherine's brow.

"How many are taking it?"

"Including you?" McGonagall raised a prim brow, hesitating, "Four."

Katherine felt impending disappointment crawling over her skin like fleas.

"And how many are necessary for the class to run?"

McGonagall tilted her conical-hatted head and gave a sympathetic pursing of her lips, "More than four, I'm afraid."

"When is the cut off?" asked Katherine.

"The end of the school term."

The buzzing Great Hall was suddenly no longer a minefield of newspaper-fuelled comments, but an opportunity to shoot ducks in a barrel.

"Excuse me, Stebbins?" asked Katherine, having gone to her Hufflepuff rival first.

 _She knew she could convince him to follow her around the Quidditch Pitch,_ supposed Katherine, _convincing him to follow her in subject selection couldn't be too much harder_.

Stebbins frowned, scratching behind his ear, "Er, yeah?"

"Have you heard about Alchemy?" asked Katherine, tucking her hair behind her ears, "It's on offer next year, you know?"

"Oh, er…" Stebbins trailed off unintelligently, looking anywhere but at Katherine.

Katherine humoured him by looking around, as if there were something that were to interrupt them, and that was when she saw the fifth year Gryffindor boys, stroll, stride, amble, and scamper in through the double doors.

And they too saw her, standing as bold as bronze amongst the Hufflepuffs. James offered his usual nod of acknowledgment. Remus a quick smile. Peter a grand wave.

But Sirius noticed her last, tossing his hair from his face with a smooth movement of his neck. Katherine didn't miss the glint in his eyes – a precursor of a comment, even with the metres between them. She resisted a flinch.

"Trying for a Hogsmeade date, Spencer?" shouted Sirius with a lascivious grin, broken only the bright green apple he sunk his teeth into.

* * *

The tiny knuckles of Alice's hand thwacked against Sirius' upper arm, "Sit _down_ you _complete_ arse."

Sirius rubbed his arm; star-pale even in the sunlight, his deceptively angelic features the perfect picture of confusion.

"She's keen on Alchemy, not Stebbins." said Frank from beside Alice, sending her a fond glance before attending to his spuds.

"But they currently don't have the numbers to run it next year," said Alice with a shake of her short pale locks and a frown, "She was crushed when Professor McGonagall told her."

Frank nodded and looked up from his plate to regard Sirius with a dry grin.

"I'm not surprised that she hasn't asked you four to sign away your souls," said Frank, "She knows that you'd take the mickey out of her."

* * *

Alchemy hung in the balance on the approach to Easter Holidays, when the following year's subject selection would close.

The fifth year Gryffindor boys were no closer to deciding their futures, Katherine hadn't met her untimely demise or met the love of her life, and the dog from by the lake hadn't made a reappearance. Except in comments made by Regulus Black whenever he was in ear shot of Katherine.

Sirius had scowled and turned away as Regulus flitted around the Gryffindor table one early morning, the fourth year offering his own two sickles on Katherine's deliberation with her friends on what pet to bring to Hogwarts the following year. A cat was looking to be on the cards, all of the other girls having owls.

"I'm more of an owl person myself." said Regulus.

Marlene cast a tired but cautious look at the Slytherin, "Doesn't everyone in your family have an owl?"

Regulus shook his head, his eyes sliding across the table.

"Not…" Regulus hesitated, his throat bobbing and his pale eyes on the stretch of stone beneath his polished shoes.

Katherine thought he might just walk away from where he stood by the table.

"Not who?" asked Katherine, running her finger around the rim of her goblet and watching Regulus for any signs of running.

He didn't. His brother, however, slunk away with his laughing friends. Regulus watched Sirius go.

"Sirius," said Regulus, in a breath, looking back to Katherine, "He had a cat for his first year – mother stewed it when it clawed her new dress robes in the summer though,"

Katherine felt her breakfast churn.

Regulus stuffed his hands in his pockets and inclined his head, smiling.

"You seem surprised." said Regulus, nodding at her and raising his eyebrows.

Katherine felt her eyelashes touch her cheeks as she blinked, "At the stewing of an animal?"

"At Sirius' choice in familiar – most people are," said Regulus, shrugging, "They peg Sirius as more of a, uh,"

Regulus licked his smiling lips and bent at the hips to stage whisper.

" _Dog-person_."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

 **There are six more chapters left of Katherine and the gang's fifth year, and as a few of them are kind of short some will be posted together to ensure that you aren't all waiting long stretches just for a three thousand word chapter. The long wait between my last update and this one was to ready the next couple chapters to come all together – they aren't completely ready yet, but I hope to get them out quicker than this one! :)**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Sectumsempra

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 _ **beaniebun;**_ **I always had an inkling that Regulus would have figured his older brother out when I was reading the books – I couldn't resist putting that in there, haha! And it would be sweet if the marauders did that, wouldn't it? Maybe just…** _ **one**_ **of them – I wonder if you can you guess who before their sixth year starts.**

 **Additional Author's Note: I've made Spotify playlists that I listen to when I write for a few of the characters in this story. I find that it helps me envision the characters better – and if you'd like to listen to them while you're reading my username is 'K8' and the playlists will be the characters' names, 'Lily Evans' 'Sirius Black' 'James Potter' etc. (note that I haven't made playlists for** _ **every**_ **character)**

* * *

On the eve of Easter, that day after subject selection had closed, Katherine was walking through the early morning stretches of light along the hallway to Professor Giles' office. Lily and Marlene had gone home the previous morning on the train with the majority of the school, and Giles had said he had something to give her – and to visit him whenever she had the chance during the holidays.

It was while wondering about the nature of what he needed to give her, that her mind released any worries about her chosen subjects for her next two years of schooling – and if she would live to see them through.

"I didn't expect to see you about so early, Miss Spencer,"

Katherine turned, McGonagall closing and locking the door to her office. Her head of house turned back and smoothed her sleeves, regarding Katherine over her spectacles.

"I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you that Alchemy had another three people sign on before the cut off, making seven... _and_ it's enough for it to go ahead next year."

"Stebbins?" asked Katherine, blinking as she thought aloud, "I knew Lily and Emmeline were going to but…"

McGonagall frowned and delicately shook her head, "No, Professor Sprout had to advise him to choose some… _different_ NEWT level electives."

Confusion spored between Katherine's ears.

"Oh."

McGonagall looked at the weak silver light pouring in through the window and then back to Katherine, "May I ask why you are wondering the corridors so early?"

"Professor Giles asked me to visit him today." said Katherine, with all the confidence of truth.

" _He did mention giving it to you…_ " murmured McGonagall to herself, before waving a hand and frowning, "Very well, on your way."

Katherine eagerly maintained her course to Giles' office at McGonagall's dismissal, only stopped in her tracks by voices leaking out from beneath the door once she arrived. She only recognised one of them.

The new voice, Katherine noted, was like old red velvet.

"He doesn't kill people who are important to him."

"Still, she's being trained."

An unsettling fusion of curiosity and confusion rooted Katherine to spot and rendered her unable to knock and make her presence known.

"Making warriors out of children…"

The tisking of 'Mister Black' was followed by another short silence.

"Mister Black, I'm still unclear as to why you're here."

"I had a visitor you might like to know about," said 'Mister Black', "You were friends with Mary, weren't you?"

There was a brief, amused silence. Katherine could vividly imagine the wry twist of Giles' lips.

"If she were back from the dead, you would be the last person I'd expect to hear from."

"Not _her_ , her –"

" _Daughter_ is at the door."

The lock clicked, and the door swung open.

Giles smiled daringly at his visitor before smiling more sincerely at Katherine. He motioned at where Katherine stood as he turned back to the man with unquestionable relation to her fellow Gryffindor that went by the same surname.

"Sorry," said Katherine, stepping through and feeling red all over, "You said to visit when I had the chance…"

Giles sighed from where he leant against his desk, "Un –"

" _Fortunately_ ," intervened the relation of Sirius', heavily-lidded eyes zeroing in on Katherine's tie, "You, Katherine Spencer, belong to the same house as my nephew,"

A charming smile flashed, transforming the man's lined face into something rather boyish. He looked like a hybrid of Sirius and Regulus; the wavy black hair, bow-shaped lips, angular eyebrows, fashionably robed in smooth and tailored fabrics.

His eyes had an edge, however, that neither boy possessed. An edge of wisdom and something else, something that was, perhaps, deserving of the reputation Katherine had heard so much of whenever the Black family were in conversation.

"Could you do an old man a kind favour by showing me to your common room?"

Katherine's eyes flickered from the man's appealing gaze to Giles.

Giles pursed his lips, but nodded.

Katherine also nodded, "Sure, I guess..."

"Excellent!" The man clapped his hands together and crossed to the door, "We'll be off then, poppet?"

Giles sprung off of the edge of his desk, " _Alphard_ , I need to give her –"

"Farewell, Felix," said Alphard Black over his shoulder, flicking a hand listlessly, "Look out for my owl."

"Are you and Giles friends?" asked Katherine after a moment of silent strides.

"Oh, merlin, no," said Alphard, allowing a chuckle, "We have a…common interest, I guess you could say,"

Alphard glanced sideways and frowned before focusing on the staircase taking them up towards the portrait of the fat lady.

"I do apologise for mucking up the plans you two had, but it most urgent that I see Sirius,"

Alphard's features caught for a moment, and then fell briskly open for Katherine to see – and into concern.

"How… how has he been?"

 _He could have been better_ , Katherine mused, as she thought back on the journey he'd made over the term.

"Oh,"

From the off-handed comment to James outside the Great Hall after the welcoming feast, to the fall out she witnessed between the brothers after the return from Christmas Holidays… Katherine wasn't sure Sirius' life could get any more turbulent in a shorter space of time unless he swapped bodies with her.

All the while, he maintained a sense of humour.

"Sirius is… well, he's _Sirius_."

It was as she reflected upon the conversations had with the boy that Katherine realised that she was speaking to the uncle Sirius had mentioned taking him to the harpies.

"Still putting his feet up on tables? Flicking his hair about? Needs to get off his high hippogriff?" Alphard supplied, smiling wider with each word, a fond glint in his pale eyes.

Katherine moved her head up and down in a nod, a laugh shaking her chest.

They stopped on the landing by the fat lady – who narrowed her eyes at Katherine's companion until she swung open at the giving of the password ' _Balderdash_ '.

"Don't forget tilting every chair that his arse comes into contact with back on two legs." said Katherine, eased by the man's own ease as she stepped through the portrait hole.

Alphard leant back, laughing heartily before easily hurdling the step over the bored-through-wall behind the portrait.

"Personally, I found great joy in collapsing the legs of the chairs he did that to," said Alphard, inclining his head with glinting eyes, "It's a neat little spell –"

"Uncle!"

Katherine sprung apart from Alphard Black at the volume of the familiar voice – a higher version of Alphard's.

Alphard laughed deeply and opened his arms, stepping forward.

Sirius frowned, his hand lingering by the abandoned chess table he had sprung up from, "Aren't you supposed to be in Cannes with the family?"

Alphard's arms dropped, but his smile didn't.

Katherine didn't think either Black looked like the hugging type anyway.

"I live to disappoint," said Alphard, pushing aside his jacket lapels and neatening his fog watch in the pocket of his waistcoat, "And it's hardly an event without the _whole_ family."

"I'm… _honoured?_ " said Sirius slowly and crisply, raising his eyebrows and gently shaking his head as if to dislodge the confusion threading through his forehead.

Alphard crossed to the boys at the chess table by the window with slow, luxurious strides.

James busied himself with the few pieces he'd managed to win off of Sirius.

Remus returned to his homework he'd been given an extension on after a short stay in the Hospital Wing.

Peter blinked his sleep-crusted eyes and rolled his head away, slipping back off to sleep in the chair by the fireplace.

The feeling of being out of place struck Katherine harder than the boys; Sirius' long-time friends. She cleared her throat.

"I've delivered you here as promised, so I guess I'll be going now…" said Katherine, turning and heading for the girls' staircase.

Alphard nodded once at Katherine, and then at his nephew.

Katherine's feet became unstuck at her dismissal.

"We've business to discuss, son,"

Katherine was curious, but not impolite, so she kept walking.

"But not until after you finish your game with Potter,"

"I always knew I liked you." came James' voice, jolly.

The clatter of chess pieces being reclaimed, Sirius having taken almost all of James' pawns and his bishop, clunked hollowly throughout the circular common room.

"Oh, and, Katherine?"

Her name stopped her feet and turned her head.

Alphard was already crossing to her.

Sirius watched curiously but passively from the chess table, visible over Alphard's broad shoulders.

Katherine blinked, her hands suddenly moist, "Yes, Mister Black?"

Alphard inclined his head, wetting his lips.

"It won't be of Sirius' interest that I was visiting Giles," said Giles lowly, nodding to her, "Or yours."

Her next words were automatic.

"Of course,"

So was the bow of her head.

But he didn't go.

Katherine gulped, observing him as he observed her.

His eyes weren't grey like Sirius' – not that Sirius' eyes were simply _grey_ – but akin to a brandy that had sat in its ice too long. They didn't needle into her composure like his nephew's, they caressed her composure apart with disarming but sterile cordiality.

"Is everything okay?" asked Katherine, tucking her hair behind her ears.

Alphard shook his head faintly, blinking, "You're exactly how he…"

Alphard cleared his throat and smiled.

"Never mind,"

He waved his hand, gold cufflinks glinting in the light and in dismissal.

"I wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavours, Katherine Spencer," said Alphard as he turned, brushing down his jacket lapels.

He paused, barely a step away, his sharp profile turning over his emerald velvet-swathed shoulder.

"More people than you know are rooting for your success."

Katherine herself paused for a moment after Alphard's parting offering. She watched, dazed by the sudden sincerity of the words, as Alphard whispered what seemed to be winning chess moves in James' ear.

It wouldn't be until the following days that she wondered if he had whispered something about Quidditch in the Gryffindor Captain's ear as well, James putting practises – once the Easter holidays ended – above study, even as the O.W.L's edged ever closer.

Lily, however – the natural Prefect and good friend that she was – slipped books under Katherine's nose at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Meals were the only break Katherine had from new classwork and Quidditch practises to revise material from earlier in the term.

The closer the first Gryffindor versus Slytherin match of the school year loomed, the more thinly Katherine was stretched. She was so distracted that she accidentally picked up the wrong textbook in Potions on the Friday afternoon before the Saturday match. The realisation that it didn't belong to her only came when she saw messy, cramped handwriting that wasn't her own.

' _Sectumsempra – for enemies_ ' scribbled in the margin by the method for the potion they were brewing was all she saw before the crumbling spine was snatched from her hands.

Snape narrowed his eyes, and hugged the textbook to his body as he retreated back to his side of the bench he shared with Katherine, Marlene, and Lily.

Until the next morning, Katherine wandered about her day in her murky but intense concentration she'd adopted in the previous days. Her mind often trailed back to the spell in Snape's Potions textbook. _For enemies_ , it had said. Katherine couldn't help but wonder if it would be any use in the Quidditch match...

* * *

Katherine watched idly as students that never came to Quidditch games passed the open tent flap, her fingers working in a similar manner to her eyes; missing the loops for her boot laces on more than one instance as a result.

Lily had even been up before Katherine that morning, painting lions on her and the other girls' cheeks and tying red and gold ribbons in their hair. Her aversion to Quidditch events where she would run the risk of being embarrassed by James' attempts at her seemed to vanish in the approach to the final match of the season.

A warm, soft shoulder met Katherine's. Curls tickled her neck.

"Nervous?" asked Marlene, her grin rather weak against her pale face.

James looked up from where he sat opposite them; fastening his shin guards.

"Fear isn't in Spencer's vocabulary."

"Just in her eyes…" murmured Sirius as he walked past to pick his broom out of the line-up against the wall.

Sirius, broom now in hand, slowed to a stop in front of Katherine on his way out of the tent. He squinted at the bright grey sky glaring through the flap to the pitch.

"Look, today…" Sirius' hand went to the back of his hair, shaking it, "Watch out for Regulus' knees – he'll try to knock you off course."

Katherine recognised the difficulty he had mentioning his brother. He didn't know, however, that she knew – that she had overheard their otherwise private altercation after the Christmas holidays.

"Thanks." said Katherine, mustering a smile.

Sirius offered her a nod and a tight smile, opening his mouth to say

"McGonagall may seem to think I might have my priorities wrong," said James to the tent as a whole, springing to his feet.

Sirius bowed his head and stepped back against the wall, letting his friend grandstand.

For a brief moment, Katherine watched Sirius; shaking his hair from his face and crossing his arms. She remembered the overheard conversation between McGonagall, Sprout, and Slughorn, and wondered what sort of Captain he would be…

At the mention of her name, James' ramblings drew her attention once more however.

"Just because I said that I didn't mind if Spencer's broom bucked her off again, so long as she caught the snitch first…"

James suddenly held his broom upright at his side, and then strode to the flap.

"But I know that, regardless, we will win," said James, suddenly stone-faced and broader shouldered, "Just like we have before."

"Optimistic for a first time Captain going against our side."

It was a Slytherin who had spoken the words. And, looking towards the open flap to the pitch, Katherine's eyes fell upon the fair-haired Captain of the Slytherin side; Malfoy.

A glinting head of slicked-back black hair leant against the staked-canvas-flap; aloof, "The basis of optimism is sheer terror."

Sirius slowly stalked forward, his lips curving more with each step.

"So where's your false sunny disposition, then?" asked Sirius with a daring nod, "Leave it in France?"

"Yes, in the East Wing of the chateau," said Regulus without missing a beat.

Sirius stiffened.

Regulus' eyebrows lifted and he gave a mock look of realisation; his smile too slippery for the real thing.

" _Oh_ , I forgot – _you_ and Uncle Alphard always used to share it, _didn't_ you?"

Sirius' posture loosened, but his smile was acidic, "I bet you two had a good chat."

"We did, in fact." said Regulus, blinking once and leaning on his broom.

"So did he and I," said Sirius blithely.

Regulus worked his jaw.

Sirius raised his eyebrows and gave an inciting half-shake of his head, keeping his lead-hued gaze on his little brother.

"Where did you _think_ he went for that _full_ day on the eve of Easter?"

"Come on, that's enough," said James, moving between the brothers and waving the Gryffindor team out, "We've got a game to play."

"Trust me," said Malfoy slowly, his eyes flickering between Sirius and Regulus as he turned to lead his own team away, "It's already started."

Katherine fell into the line that filed out of the changing tent behind their Captain.

"This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it." said James as he mounted his broom at the Pitch's edge, looking out reverently.

"ALRIGHT, FOLKS, WELCOME TO THE FINAL MATCH OF THE YEAR!" came Gideon's magically magnified voice.

A new bundle of nerves tightened between Katherine's ribs, but she mounted her broom beside Marlene anyway.

"WE'VE GOT GRYFFINDOR!"

James ducked his head as he took off, shoulders broad beneath the cheers raining down on him.

"POTTER, BLACK, MCKINNON, PREWETT, KING, BROWN, AND SPENCER!"

Katherine was the last to join her team in the sky, and – once again – her lungs gave out as she faced the crowd. It was all she could do to take notice of James' arm waving the team into formation.

Their opening circle of the pitch began by the booing Slytherin Tower. Cheers replaced them immediately as they passed the Ravenclaw Tower, even more so as they passed Hufflepuff. The loudest cheering tower by far, Gryffindor, was last.

Lily stood at the front, her back to the pitch, and her arms raised to the members of her house before her; leading in something.

The entire tower fell – not to a complete quiet – but to a murmur, a whisper. And then out of the top burst the most marvellous roar of song.

" _We are the reds of the red triangle,_

 _Every team we meet we mangle,_

 _Squish them,_

 _Squash them,_

 _Put them in a jar,_

 _Gryffindor, Gryffindor,_

 _Rah, Rah, Rah!"_

For a moment, Katherine marvelled at the unity – and that Lily had organised it all without Katherine noticing a thing. Granted, Katherine hadn't noticed much about the past week unless it was spelled purple and dancing in front of her – or Quidditch-playing related. But Lily was a Prefect, Katherine reasoned, it was part of her job to have school spirit.

Lighter she felt, all the while, at the display. Katherine even managed a wave down younger and older students alike, the tightness in her jaw and neck easing to allow a smile.

Her collar didn't feel tight, and dread didn't circle her stomach as Katherine circled the pitch on her broom. Anticipation, however, hummed in her fingers and toes.

"AND WE'VE GOT SLYTHERIN!"

" _We're the best,_

 _We can't be beat,_

 _We'll rock this pitch,_

 _To your defeat,_

 _Go Slytherin,_

 _Go Slytherin,_

 _Go, Go,_

 _Go Slytherin!_ "

Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff cheered for the inventive chants equally, but once the final note of Slytherin's chant carried off into the wind, the two competing houses began hurling sledges across the Pitch at one another.

Professors artfully squinted against the wind and barrage of slurs, watching the two teams – four players of which had heavy bats – with more interest and concern.

James and Malfoy landed in the middle of the Pitch by Madam Smethwyck, both pulling off a glove and eyeing the other all the while.

"Captains!" said Smethwyck, waving a billowy-robed arm between the boys, "Shake hands!"

James extended his hand first. Malfoy's grip was firm; the joining _SLAP_ reached Katherine's ears.

Meanwhile, the teams arranged themselves; impervious to the spectators' cheers and taunts.

Katherine gazed down at the Chasers in the lowest ring, both missing their third member in their Captains. The Beaters were just below her, Fabian's fair hair glinting and blowing in the wind as he leant his head back to give her a thumbs up.

"Take your places!"

Her thumb stiff in her glove, Katherine returned the gesture quickly for she had risen level with Regulus; both in line with the tips of the towers.

"Let the game begin!"

Smethwyck blew her whistle and her thin arm tossed the quaffle – and, as usual, higher than it should have been able – into the air.

Emerald and ruby swirled beneath Katherine, and, for a moment, she allowed herself to muse that it would be especially festive for Gryffindor and Slytherin to play each other at Christmas time each year.

It was Slytherin that made off with the Quaffle out the muck of elbows and knees; King clutching his rib with one hand and his broom with the other.

"AND WE'RE OFF!" announced Gideon, "THE GRYFFINDOR VERSUS SLYTHERIN MATCH OF THE YEAR – THE FINAL MATCH OF THE YEAR, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN – WHERE ELSE WOULD YOU BE?"

James and Sirius streaked down the Pitch, picking their marks in their opposition. James went for Malfoy who promptly slipped through his arms like toad spawn soap.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Sirius' was upon his cousin-in-law but a second later, punching the Quaffle out from under his arm, passing the Slytherin, and then deftly catching the airborne Quaffle himself.

The Bludgers shot up from the chest of balls and growled down the pitch towards the Gryffindor Chasers who were weaving the Quaffle toward the Slytherin Keeper – to the thick of the match.

Katherine tightened her grip on her broom.

Regulus buoyed in mid-air across from her, eyes hidden from her as they trained onto the snitch.

"THIS IS, QUITE POSSIBLY, THE SHOWDOWN OF THE SEASON – THE TWO UNBEATEN SEEKERS FACING OFF!"

A glint of the Snitch divided Katherine and Regulus where they still hovered.

Regulus didn't move.

The Snitch flirted just above their heads.

Katherine wondered, briefly, if she should have tried to wait Regulus out. The anxious pull behind her navel – however – urged her into flight, the snitch like a magnet to her broom. The wind in her hair tickled a thrill out of her fingertips.

Vaguely realising she was alone in pursuit of the ball, Katherine gained speed.

So did the snitch, but then it lifted up on the breeze on an unnatural angle – one Katherine's broom couldn't compete with.

Flapping against the top of her head drew Katherine's attention up. Regulus zoomed overhead; bony arm outstretched to the roars of Slytherin Tower.

Katherine hunkered down against her broom, the equivalent of kicking a horse's flank. In the pursuit of the glinting head of black hair on top of emerald robes, even the announcements were just a faint buzz in Katherine's ears.

Regulus weaved through the air like a bird – riding it, instead of battling it to the Snitch. But he was quicker than any bird she had ever seen.

As she neared him again, she watched for his knees, but he took a sudden dive. It was all she could do to follow him down into it – damning wariness.

"AND THE GRYFFINDOR CAPTAIN TAKES THE FIRST GOAL OF THE MATCH – TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" announced Gideon, "EXCELLENT PLAYER THAT POTTER!"

" _Bruises, Sweat, Blood, and Tears,_

 _Gryffindors have no fear!"_

Gryffindors may have had no fear – but they almost had an early defeat, Regulus' hand swiping down.

If it had found the ball and not a wing, Katherine would have had her first game without a Snitch catch. But he only had a choice word to show for his efforts, having over-reached – and slipped back in line with Katherine, his earlier tactics no longer offering advantage.

A slew of goals was punctuated with a new jolly verse from the Gryffindor Tower as the pursuit of the Snitch carried on.

" _Potter's got the rhythm,_

 _Black's got the motion,_

 _When they get together,_

 _They cause a commotion!_ "

"THE TWO TEAMS ARE CURRENTLY DEAD EVEN IN THE STAKES FOR THE QUIDDITCH CUP," announced Gideon, "EACH GOAL COUNTS – BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY – THE CATCHING OF THE SNITCH AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO LIMIT SCORING OPPORTUNITIES!"

It was the sudden impressing of this importance that made the growl of the Bludgers whistle louder than the wind in Katherine's ears as she and Regulus dived.

"Bletchley's going to foul her!"

She didn't need the anxious twinge at the base of her spine to tell her something violent ripping through the air was coming _her_ way – _fast_.

"I've got her!"

"Fabian's coming – don't!"

"He's too far away!"

Her thighs squeezed her broom tighter than ever before. Katherine half hoped she might meld with the wood.

"Sirius!"

There were gasps.

"James!"

There was a flash of red out of the corner of Katherine's eye. She ignored it. Everyone was everywhere during matches.

Among the flapping of robes, streams of wind behind brooms, there was a _CLUNK_ and a soft grunt.

Someone screamed _– a girl_ , Katherine thought, and somehow familiar to her. _Maybe Marlene_ …

People screamed all the time at matches though, so Katherine kept on. A sideways glance told her that Regulus hadn't even spared the little thought Katherine had to sound, even with his older brother's name before yelled seconds before it.

"POTTER'S DOWN – I REPEAT, POTTER IS DOWN!"

The space behind her eyes – burning against the wind – went suddenly hollow. Her broom sensed it, and it fell into the same strange, still static as Katherine. Her fingers buzzed. The only sensation in her body came from the junction between her legs against her broom. Her hoarse throat was suddenly wet and an obstacle for breath.

Like a bird that had hit a window, James Potter laid crumpled in the sand basin of the pitch.

"THE REFEREE HAS CALLED A TIME OUT! IT LOOKS BAD FOLKS!"

Katherine followed the stream of her teammates to the ground.

"WHAT OUTSTANDING MORAL FIBRE WE'VE WITNESSED HERE TODAY –"

Beside his crumbled form in his pile of robes were his glasses. Katherine had never seen him without them. She moved towards them at the _wrongness_ of the sight. The ground seemed to tilt beneath her as she picked them up, the metal feeling strangely like apart of James – like she had just lifted his arm off the ground.

They were still warm.

"JAMES POTTER TOOK TWO TO THE CHEST TO SAVE HIS SEEKER –"

Katherine bent and quickly deposited the glasses on James' face, careful not to touch his skin.

"Everyone please stay back,"

Katherine jumped at Smethwyck's voice, and stepped back as ordered.

It seemed, although, that she was the only one. A crowd of Gryffindor and Slytherin were battling the extraordinarily petite referee to get a closer look at the felled James Potter.

Smethwyck's eyes were almost as wide as her arms, "Everyone, please –"

"Oi, shove off!" came the booming voice of Sirius Black – his shoulder pressing into Katherine's as he grappled through the crowd from behind to the front.

The crowd stepped back a good three paces at his words, and Smethwyck cast a brief glance at the boy as she crouched down next to his friend whose eyelids where fluttering open.

"Thank you, Mister Black," said a frizzy-haired Smethwyck, turning back gently pressing down over James' heart, "Now, Mister Potter, do you feel pain when I press here?"

James' jaw tightened, but he shook his head.

Smethwyck moved her hand to her right ribs.

"What about here?"

James's lips tightened, but – again – he shook his head.

"He's one big bruise alright," said Sirius, his voice high in places it wouldn't normally be.

Katherine felt his hand brush past hers. It was shaking. She resisted the instinctive urge to grab it – to reassure him – like she would with Lily and Marlene. She wasn't sure how it would be received, so she settled for standing by him.

Somehow, it made _her_ feel taller.

"A supremely hindering penalty is in order, I think." continued Sirius, his eyes betraying the confidence his hands lacked.

Malfoy glared from across the circle.

Smethwyck drew her analytical gaze away from James.

"Perhaps just a normal one," said Smethwyck, absently, as she frowned, "Will you take it on Potter's behalf, Black?"

Sirius' eyes didn't glitter, glint, or gleam. They brewed like the overcast day above them. His nod was as solid as the mountains peering down at them, and then he, with impressive skill, stepped into his mounting of his broom – and was gracefully zooming up and away.

James lifted his cracked glasses from his nose, squinted, and lowered them back onto his face, "Where's Poppy – I need an industrial strength Episkey…"

It was then that the matron's robes emerged from between the Gryffindor Beaters, swatting away their bats and kneeling by James.

Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue as she ran her wand over his chest, "I'm going to have to owl your father…"

"I've had worse." said James, breathing heavily and uneven now, swatting a weak hand through the air.

"To brew more skele-gro, Potter," murmured Pomfrey, poking her wand tip firmly into the middle of his chest, "Not emotional support – _Episkey!_ "

Katherine, secure in the knowledge that her Captain would live to gaze at the back of Lily's head in class another day, took back to the skies to await the recommencement of the game.

Regulus swooped in and stopped next to Katherine without a word, their broom handles parallel to each other as they watched the Slytherin team hover in the semi-circle around their goals; facing inwards.

"WHAT'S THAT I HEAR? BLACK IS TAKING THE PENALTY SHOT, EVERYBODY!" announced Gideon, snorting into the microphone in a rare show of indignity, "MULCIBER, MATE, YOU'RE F–"

At the sudden breaking off of the commentating, Katherine glanced to the tower to find a wrestle for the microphone between McGonagall and Gideon.

"–FULLY GOING TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR BEATER'S ACTIONS," Gideon sped out over the speakers, having won back the microphone, "THAT'S ALL I WAS GOING TO SAY, PROFESSOR – HONEST!"

Mulciber had a head the size of three normal ones put together – _to guard all three hoops_ , some people joked. But he looked small up there, alone.

Between the sole emerald set of robes, and the semi-circle of his teammates, was one sole red set.

Unperturbed by the amount of green surrounding him, Sirius sat back on his broom, tossing the Quaffle between his hands.

To the constant beat the Quaffle made against Sirius' hands, the _THUD_ of dozens of hands against the edges of the towers thrummed up a precocious pace. Only when there seemed to be no rhythm in the thudding – the volume at a fever-pitch – did Sirius tuck the Quaffle under his arm and take his run up.

His left arm wound back and then Mulciber was separated from his broom, the Quaffle hitting him square in the chest. Propelled backwards through the centre hoop, Mulciber and the Quaffle came out the other side and then plummeted to the sand basin.

There was a _DING_ as the score ticked over, and then screams from the Gryffindor Tower.

" _Stronger than steel,_

 _Burning brighter than the sun,_

 _Sirius won't stop,_

' _til he gets the job done!"_

Katherine allowed herself to enjoy the play on her teammate's name as she watched him weave out of the Slytherin semi-circle of resentment surrounding him and back to the centre of the Pitch.

"It's funny." said Regulus, his voice flat.

"What is?" asked Katherine.

Regulus' tongue darted out to wet his chapped and cracked and smiling lips, "You watch him and Potter in awe of their pace,"

Regulus blinked, urging his broom to hover closer to hers.

"It's like you don't know –" Regulus' eyes glinted as he leant his face down by hers, "– _you're_ faster."

He blinked at her as he leant back, still smiling.

Katherine wondered when the threat would come, "And _you're_ even faster?"

Regulus' eyebrows pulsed, his eyes caught on something, and then he grinned.

"I think we're about to find out – places, Spencer."

Her name was lost into the wind that he turned down into, down to the reforming starting positions.

"POTTER'S BACK IN AGAINST HEALER'S ORDERS!"

Katherine stopped in her position and took in the full Chaser line-up and found Gideon's words to be true; James – albeit hunched – took pride of place between King and Sirius.

"NO TIME FOR REST WHEN THERE ARE SLYTHERIN'S TO GRIND INTO THE DUST!"

"Prewett!" McGonagall's shrill tones could be heard even without a microphone.

"SORRY," apologised Gideon insincerely, "IT'S MY LAST CHANCE TO SEE GRYFFINDOR WIN, PROFESSOR."

Regulus and Katherine's resetting was just a formality – so that they didn't get unfair time without the added pressure of Beaters: a Seeker's natural enemy. The Snitch still fluttered around, taunting them to break free from their imposed positions.

And when the Quaffle was released – they did. Both of them off the mark together this time. In any other scenario, it would indeed be a test of speed. But on the same brooms, it was inevitable that it would come down to skill, in the end.

The same size, they ended up in the same spots after barrel rolls, dives, and loop-the-loops – neither gaining the advantage.

It was when the pair climbed up into the clouds, out of sight from the pitch, that Regulus's outstretched hand clamped down on Katherine's wrist. His grip on her gloved hand, he propelled himself forward, the glove ripped – and fell into the clouds below.

Katherine returned the tactic by pulling on his tail twigs, dislodging a handful. She couldn't even have hoped that it would have the effect it did. Regulus' broom lost some of its stream-lining, jerked, and then the handle fell back to only to her broom's middle.

Regulus, unable to snatch her tail twigs without purposely falling even further behind, grabbed her elbow instead, and launched himself over her. He quickly realised his mistake, Katherine easily rematching his speed, and he caught onto her remaining glove.

Back on the Pitch, losing her gloves wouldn't have concerned Katherine. But they were higher in the sky than she had ever been before. Condensation formed on her broom handle, and then it began to freeze – without her gloves, her hands would freeze to the broom.

The snitch seemed to shiver out in front of them, and then seemed to just drop out of thin air – out of flight.

Katherine immediately turned the handle of her broom down with her one un-gloved her, dragging Regulus along by the grip he had on her remaining glove.

The flags on the turrets of the spectator towers peeked through the clouds.

Katherine's shoulder pulsed, hot and sharp; her arm out behind herself.

The goal hoops were the next to appear.

Then the icicle on the tip of her nose.

Her last glove left her person, and Regulus swore.

The Snitch darted left.

Katherine followed, extending her arm attached to her already sore shoulder as it was already up. It was then that she saw Regulus take his hand off his broom – not to reach for the snitch – but to pull his wand out of his robes.

There was a flash of light, and a squeal – but not from Katherine, because she wasn't hit. Someone in the Slytherin Tower was instead.

Katherine jumped from the sudden moment anyway, and it had a curious effect on her broom – it _too_ seemed to jump. _Forward_.

The cool metal of the snitch against her palm shocked her.

"SPENCER'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH!"

Regulus still flew alongside her despite the ceasing of the game, undisguised shock pulling his mouth open.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS – 250 TO 130 – THE CUP BELONGS TO THE LIONS THIS YEAR!"

Katherine didn't remember landing. The pats, slaps, and general grabbing of her person was the only thing that alerted her to the fact that she was no longer flying. At least up until James and Fabian passed her the hefty cup and hoisted her up onto their shoulders.

It was from her new vantage point that she saw Professor McGonagall primly battling through the barbarian-esque crowd to her team.

"The first cup win since my youngest brother graduated in seventy-two!" exclaimed McGonagall upon reaching the epicentre of the celebrations, "I couldn't have asked for a better replacement for his position, Potter!"

James and Fabian let Katherine down from their shoulders so that McGonagall could shake James' hand. Their Head of House nodded curtly but proudly at Katherine and Fabian before she wrenched her way back through the crowd.

"I still don't know…" trailed off Katherine as she watched the Witch's tight bun bob away, "Why is McGonagall so…"

James craned his neck to speak to Katherine over the noise around them, "She had a nasty fall after a foul during the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match in forty five, which would decide the Quidditch Cup winner that left her with a concussion, several broken ribs, and a lifelong desire to see Slytherin crushed on the Quidditch pitch."

There was a flash of red, and a cold, tight grip was on Katherine's shoulder.

"Until you graduate, at least, it seems Slytherin will be staying where McGonagall likes them." said Lily, beaming and breathless.

She bounced – either from the cold or elation, Katherine couldn't be sure. But she knew James had never seen her so pleased whilst in his presence.

James' hand shot to his hair at the compliment, and his eyes shot around.

"I think she's wagering on me having enough kids to fill out the Gryffindor team until she retires." joked James.

Katherine, though, saw him gulp.

James suddenly frowned, "Where's Sirius?"

"Here!"

The red sea of robes and Gryffindor school merchandise parted, Sirius' head of inky hair; still neatly windswept despite the match, bobbed nearer, his broom still in hand.

"Where did you jet off to?" asked James.

"The whomping willow," said Sirius, breathless.

He extended his hand, two vaguely familiar shreds of fabric clutched between his fingers.

"Er… sorry about your gloves, Spencer…wrestled them off a branch." apologised Sirius, bowing his head as his extended the remnants of her gloves in her direction.

Frowning at the useless shreds, Katherine accepted them.

"Can't you mend them?" asked Lily from over her shoulder.

"They're imbued with magic, when they break – so do the protective charms on them," said James.

Lily's eyes lifted, and so did her eyebrows.

James cleared his throat, but continued, albeit in a more lacklustre fashion.

"It keeps people buying new gloves, shops wouldn't make any money otherwise…if everyone could just buy one pair and keep mending them…"

Sirius' eyes gleamed with mirth as he watched his friend, his eyebrows infuriatingly lifted.

"That tree is a nasty piece of work though," said Sirius, pushing up his left sleeve; revealing the angry, jagged pink scar Katherine had spied on various occasions, "It gave me this scar in second year when King over there dared me to fly around it once, unscathed, to get on the team,"

He smiled ruefully at his arm, pushing down his sleeve once more and blinking nonchalantly at Katherine; the only one who didn't seem to know the story.

"I tried out in third year to better success."

"Evans!"

At the yelling of her name, Lily smiled apologetically, gripped Katherine's arm firmly in farewell, and slipped away into the crowd.

James took a look at the shreds of fabric in Katherine's hands and looked either side of himself before saying, "Might be worth taking another trip down the tunnel…"

"What tunnel?"

Marlene blinked owlishly between her three teammates, having halted in her approach.

James sighed and nodded his head at Katherine before grabbing Sirius by the arm and leaving Katherine to explain.

"It's probably about time you learnt the truth of how I got my broom..."

What followed her explanation was a clubbing on the arm and enthusiastic planning in the days that followed to go down the tunnel together on the next Hogsmeade trip to _Sprintwitches_.

With the final game of the season out of the way, it seemed Lily refocused her complete attentions on the upcoming O.W.L's and was none the wiser to their conspiring. To keep their Prefect friend's conscience clear, they had decided it best not to tell Lily about the tunnel. But she had her own plans for the weekend directly following the grand final one.

"Alice and I are going to get our hair cut," said Lily on Friday evening, upon Katherine asking her friend's plans so that she and Marlene could navigate around them – to avoid being caught the next day.

Lily nodded at Katherine's back, where her hair – out of it's usual plait – tickled the skin of her lower back exposed by her jumper riding up where she sat on the common room couch.

"You should probably ask Giles to sign your form so you can get yours cut too, Katherine, it's getting rather long."

"It is, isn't it?" said Katherine, tucking it behind both of her ears, "My Aunt never let me grow it this long, I kind of like it…"

Marlene hummed while popping a caramel she'd commandeered from the kitchen after dinner, "A menace in matches though."

"I don't know, maybe I should keep it," said Katherine, a twinge of stubbornness in her throat, but a smile finding its way to her lips anyway, "Flinging it in Black's eyes was probably the only thing that gave me an upper hand."

* * *

With all of their preparations and precautions, the trip down to Hogsmeade went smoothly – and completely undetected. Katherine and Marlene were only forced to stop in the tracks when passing the Three Broomsticks, the unmistakable robes of two Aurors blocking entry.

"Come on, let us through." said Sirius, opening his arms – them spreading the width of he and James.

"We should go," said Marlene, tugging on Katherine's jacket, "Get away from any possible commotion."

Marlene wasn't the only one using the cover of the friction with the Aurors to advantage, Katherine found. Her eyes had slipped over the scene, and the alleyways either side of The Three Broomsticks, before acquiescing with Marlene's suggestion, and caught onto two dark sets of robes; dots at their distance.

One turned with a bitter laugh and shake of their head, however, and they hastened back up the alley. They grew closer – larger. More familiar.

 _Regulus_ shoved past _Snape_ none too gently before storming out of the alley and in the direction of the castle.

"What's your clearance?" asked the Auror.

Katherine glance back to the front of the pub to see Sirius raise his eyebrows and James turn away with a smile, wiping the corner of his lips with his thumb.

"Oh, I go through the door with about an inch to spare."

Sirius' sarcastic tones faded to the edge of Katherine's thoughts when she caught Snape moving. He ducked his head and went to move off. But not before she saw the wand in his hand.

Katherine felt suspicion trickle down her spine and thought quickly, concern for Regulus with his back turned to the older boy leeching through.

"Didn't you want to go to Honeydukes?" asked Katherine, forcing her voice even.

Marlene frowned and glanced at the shop, "Well, yeah…" said Marlene, but she shook her head, "But I don't want you getting caught."

"I'm disillusioned, I'll slip down the passage and wait for you to finish shopping." lied Katherine.

Marlene rubbed her lips together, her eyes straying to the colourful shop front again, "Alright, then, when you say it like that…I guess there isn't much that could go wrong…"

"Alright," said Katherine, trying not to sound too relieved, "But we better stop talking before people start rumours about you talking to yourself."

Marlene nodded, and began walking as if she was alone – not knowing that she was.

Katherine, hesitating with only a split-second of guilt, started off in the opposite direction; after Snape.

She followed the dark robes around the maze of buildings that made up the town, all the way to the edge; to the fenced off shrieking shack at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. And found that she was the only one in the clearing.

Confused, Katherine slowly turned. Her eyes flitted over the small hills, boulders, and circled back to the back of the township.

" _Sectumsempra!_ "

There was a flash of light, and then pain.

Searing, needling, white-hot pain sent Katherine to the ground. She felt her body convulse on the square. Something wet and hot sept through her favourite suede jacket.

"What did you do?"

The voice seemed far away – as if the words had been shouted from over the hill – but boots crunched into the melting snow beside her head.

Katherine's eyes climbed as high as the high-waisted leather-belted band of an expensive looking pair of trousers before they failed her, pulsing and blurring.

"Sectumsempra!"

Katherine felt a body join her, the snow packing into her side from the force of their impact.

"You fool!" gasped a voice from beside Katherine, "You don't… know… the counter…"

A wand was extended across Katherine, pointing at the body beside her. The hand holding it was a distinct shade of alabaster, the spidery veins a map to her defender's identity.

"I knew you'd have to use it on yourself if you wanted any chance at living."

Katherine felt more and more like a live autopsy recipient as words were mumbled around the edges of her fading vision. The words stopped, however. There were a series of crunches in the snow, and then the uneven stomp of someone hobbling away.

"Oh, Merlin, what has he done…"

Katherine summoned her neck to turn, the only part of her body that hadn't spontaneously burst open, and she found a glinting head of inky hair. It lifted and lowered as the owner rocked forward and backward.

Katherine squinted, caught only the wide, unblinking eyes of her saviour mid-rock, and then lost focus.

" _Vulnera Sanentur…_ "

The eyes blurred, and Katherine's vision was edged in blue.

"… _vulnera sanentur…_ "

Her breaths no longer brought her lungs air, but her own blood. Her very thoughts receded to a pin prick in her chest, as if to be sucked out of her through one of her wounds.

"… _vulnera sanentur…_ "

And then there was nothing.

No pain. No breathlessness. No receding consciousness.

There was a crunch of snow, and then Katherine looked down the length of a long black wand.

" _Obliviate._ "

* * *

There was a rickety joint between leaving Marlene at the Three Broomsticks and feeling the sheets of the Hospital Wing in Katherine's memory. The fraying and splintering joint was marred with clips and phrases Katherine thought must have belonged to someone else, for they made no sense to her.

The breaking up of a strange lullaby and incredibly ill feeling towards Severus Snape came in the form of the Headmaster sometime close to her admission, as Katherine felt Madam Pomfrey's already familiar routine initial examination of her injuries.

"That's the thing about memory," Dumbledore's voice whispered around the edges of Katherine's consciousness, "It belongs to those who experienced it. Not even curses can touch that human sanctity."

A ream of potions and prods with the tip of Madam Pomfrey's wand against every part of her body – at least twice – blurred together. It could have been hours or days until she heard another voice that wasn't just murmuring healing spells, Katherine couldn't be sure – and couldn't bring herself to push her eyes open against her body's lethargy.

"Jeez, lurk much?"

There was a shuffle of shoes.

"I wasn't lurking," came a defensive and familiar, albeit unexpected, voice, "I was standing about – it's a whole different vibe,"

Katherine could imagine Regulus' cool gaze. One his brother undoubtedly returned, she was sure. Until she heard the clearing of Sirius' throat, and the following words – higher pitched than usual.

"How come you've been abnormally decent lately?"

"I can hex you, if you want." came Regulus' swift reply.

There was a pause long enough for a wry smile.

"I'll pass."

And then there was a pause long enough for one or both boys to have left. But, it seemed by Regulus quiet inquiry, neither did.

"Do you know how she's doing?"

"Aiding the prophesised downfall of the dark lord? That's very Gryffindor of you, Reg," Sirius teased, "Mummy and Daddy won't be happy."

 _Maybe they wouldn't be happy_ , Katherine mused against the backs of her eyelids, but Sirius, indeed, sounded it.

There was a soft fall of air; a scoff.

"Go back to your Captain and tell him his star Seeker is fine," came Regulus' voice, suddenly scathing, "That's why you're here, isn't it?"

There was a steady rap of shoes and the _CLICK_ of the Hospital Wing's double doors.

No sooner that they closed, did they creak open again – importantly.

"Mister Black," came Dumbledore's voice, "Curious seeing you here."

Katherine's eyes shot open in time to see Regulus shoot up out of the seat by her bed.

"We're… friends, Professor," said Regulus slowly, clearing his throat and bowing his head, "I think that I'll be leaving now."

"Nonsense," said Dumbledore, smiling as he closed in on the pair at Katherine's bed, "Stay, Katherine needs good friends."

Regulus didn't sit again, he stood; wiping his hands on his slacks and looking around at the few younger students dotted around the infirmary.

"Now, Katherine," said Dumbledore, steepling his fingertips, "I'm sorry to say that we haven't discovered who cast the curse –"

"It was Snape."

Katherine's hand shot to her own mouth – the one that had spoken the words that shocked even her.

Regulus's brows knitted together, his eyes a brighter blue against the dark hair.

Dumbledore's surprise only came in the vanishing of his usual twinkle, "Katherine, that's a very serious accusation."

"I know that it was him." said Katherine, quieter than before.

"And why would Mister Snape want to cast such a spell on you?" asked Dumbledore patiently, infuriatingly so.

Katherine's hands fell either side of herself on the bed in exasperation, her eyes searching for a way to articulate her innate _knowing_.

"Voldemort probably put him up to it," said Katherine, grappling for justification she hoped he could understand.

Regulus shifted his weight between his legs, uncomfortable.

Most people were at the mention of the name.

"He's testing his future Death Eaters – everyone knows." continued Katherine.

"I think that you should rest, Katherine," said Dumbledore, gazing at her over his half-moon spectacles, "We will continue our efforts to find the culprit."

He offered her one last sympathetic glance before he swept out in the hallway.

But the Hospital Wing doors had taken on a seemingly permanent revolving quality, and Giles appeared in the wake of Dumbledore's pale gold robes; hair without gel, and eyes wide.

"Katherine," breathed Giles, having steamed across the room, "Minerva told me what happened,"

He rested a cool hand over Katherine's wrist, and the other against her forehead.

"How are you feeling?" asked Giles, unblinking as his eyes roved her bed-ridden form.

His concern nurtured her spirit, if not her achy muscles.

"A bit peaky," said Katherine, "But generally alright."

Giles' hands fell away and he blinked his wide eyes, "You almost bled to death!"

Katherine reached out to rest a hand on his wrist that time.

"Madam Pomfrey is an excellent healer," said Katherine, patting Giles' tweed sleeve before returning her hand to her sheet-covered lap, "I'll be back to normal in a day or so."

Giles nodded, and in doing so caught sight of the other person by Katherine's bedside.

"And _you_?" asked Giles, frowning and shaking his head at Regulus' presence, "Why are you here?"

Regulus' eyebrows lifted as he blinked.

"Honestly?" said Regulus, his eyebrows lowering to a frown, "I do not know…"

Regulus hesitated as he turned, not looking back – but speaking.

"Feel better…Spencer."

Eventually, she did.

Upon Madam Pomfrey releasing her from the Hospital Wing, Katherine was immediately summoned to Professor McGonagall's office. Strangely enough, James Potter already sat in one of the two chairs in front of her desk when she arrived.

"I must say, I am _astounded_ that you partook in such flagrant flouting of the rules put in place to keep the students of this school safe," McGonagall began as soon as Katherine was seated, "What do you have to say for yourself, Spencer?"

Shame stabbed at her healing injuries, and Katherine almost didn't notice how McGonagall's expression shifted on her surname.

"I was replacing the gloves that got ruined in my last Quidditch match, I wasn't –" Katherine lowered her head beneath her Head of House's stern gaze, "I wasn't there for _fun_ … if it were for Quidditch, I thought you might…"

"A re-evaluation of all of our priorities is in need, it seems," said McGonagall.

McGonagall waved a hand in James' direction.

"I invited Mister Potter here to ensure that there is no misunderstandings about what I am about to say," McGonagall paused, and her big green eyes moved pointedly from James to Katherine, "Evening Detentions, Miss Spencer – every night for a week – _no_ exceptions for Quidditch practises or anything of the like."

Katherine wondered, at McGonagall's words and glances at James, if the Professor _had known_ about the trip down the tunnel to Hogsmeade to purchase her broom.

"I can't believe this," said James, shaking his head – almost sending his glasses flying off the edge of his nose, "I need to sit down."

McGonagall inclined her head to peer over her glasses, pursed lips twitching, "You are sitting down."

"Oh," James blinked, gripping the chair's armrests, "Good for me."

"I can't say that I will apologise for any missed opportunities for you, Mister Potter, to go leading the charge into trouble's way with Miss Spencer."

Katherine felt simultaneously small and large in her chair before her tight-bunned and pursed-lipped, tartan wearing Head of House.

" _Trouble usually finds me_."

Katherine only realised once she finished her words that she'd had an echo in the form of James Potter.

She turned, only catching the fact that his neck had snapped around to her also, before McGonagall gently cleared her throat; reaching for her teapot.

"Well," said McGonagall, her pursed lips collapsing – not quite into a smile – but changing her expression to be neither condemning nor approving nonetheless, "That will be all this evening."

Dismissed with a wave of McGonagall's hand towards her office door, they found scrambling Slytherin robes and bouncing, blond curls skidding around the corner.

"I won't be sorry when she's gone."

Katherine turned and caught Sirius' usual haughty countenance as he stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets. The boy hastened alongside James as he joined them from where he had been leant on a pillar; watching Rita Skeeter quietly, hostilely.

"From the school, though, right?" asked Katherine, doubt creeping in as she remembered Remus' words about his duelling prowess, "You haven't got any plans for her to leave the planet or anything, have you?"

Sirius shrugged, his half-lidded eyes ahead and on nothing in particular, "If I did, I wouldn't tell you,"

Sirius blinked as he turned to her. His hauteur parted, replaced with a sudden and frightfully sincere grin.

"You can't testify for my innocence if you know I'm guilty."

James grinned cheerfully as he waved at a passing Jeffrey Alderidge, the waving hand clapping down on Sirius' shoulder after the younger boy passed.

"Just remember – you won't be able to do your morning crosswords if you're in prison." said James carelessly, his bespectacled gaze drifting around the expanse of hallway ahead of them.

 _Remember_ , that's all Katherine wanted to do.

She wanted to remember why the surety that Snape had cast the curse was unable to be dislodged from her mind.

She wanted to remember why all she could hear in her sleep was a strange lullaby.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

 **I was thinking of adding sneak peaks at the end of chapters for what's to come in the next chapter – if you would be interested in that, let me know! :)**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Family Values

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Two chapters in two days! Here's to hoping the inspiration sticks around!**

 **Also, as I didn't receive any feedback on the last chapter about the previews at the end of chapters, I thought I'd give it a trial at the end of this chapter anyway! :)**

* * *

He had newfound sympathy for goats; having something akin to a million bezoars weighing down on his stomach – solidified dread. He only wished someone would extract the blooming burden.

He had _helped_ her. _Twice._

He had cursed a fellow housemate - worse yet, he _forfeited_ the _Snitch_ to keep her from being spelled from the sky and, possibly, from life.

"You're not going to die, Regulus,"

He wished he would.

"Not tonight, by any count."

A twisted version of a smile, squeezed and forced through a grimace, pulled at his lips.

Narcissa shook her head, sighing against the balustrade her arms rested upon, "I tried to tell Bellatrix you were too young –"

"I'm not some kid!"

Regulus was rigid with ire, his eyes as wide as the moon shining down on them. His chest was a spliced as the ledge they leant against at the top of the Astronomy Tower.

Narcissa threw her head back and laughed. A cold, dark, high laugh. And then she looked at Regulus with such dark amusement that his shoes felt too tight.

"Wake _up_ , Regulus!" Narcissa punctuated her words with crisp slaps on the balustrade, shaking her head; leaning closer to Regulus' face all the while, " _We're all kids!_ "

At that moment, Regulus didn't care for her lost love.

At that moment, Regulus didn't care for her lost sister.

He didn't care for her lost innocence.

Nobody had cared for his.

"He _chose_ me!" The words felt hollow – cold, unlike the thumping blood through his arm that lifted to point at his cousin, "He honoured _me!_ "

Narcissa's shoulders lifted beneath her evening cloak as she drew herself away from him, her eyes as thin as knives.

" _You_ were _convenient!_ "

His chest took on a state of disquiet at her words, thumping and basking in the truth.

And Narcissa knew it.

She huffed, she puffed, and then she fixed her hair with the delicate swipe of a nail.

Narcissa considered him for a long moment before continuing, quieter, "And what if you fail? If you're caught?"

Regulus turned away from the words – repelled by the truth of them.

"You doubt him."

Narcissa all but bared her teeth and raised her hackles, "I've seen what he's done when people exhaust their usefulness."

His words filled his mouth, but his heart didn't follow.

"You speak ill of the Dark Lord."

Narcissa blew out a breath, "It's just us here, Regulus."

"I could tell him," said Regulus, but he didn't sound right to his own ears, "I could tell him what you've said – Lucius won't be his favourite new recruit, perhaps even alive for your wedding –"

Narcissa raised a quivering hand, "Enough!"

Regulus watched her hand lower, away from her matching quivering lips.

"I _could_." said Regulus, overcome up to his ears in an icy victory.

Narcissa's lips barely moved, much like her eyes – which didn't lift from the glittering lake, "You won't."

"You don't know that."

"You won't," said Narcissa, firmer, and with a twisted smile as she lifted her head, "For the same reason why I'm concerned for you – you won't, because we're family."

"What happens now – the unbreakable vow –"

"From what I've heard," said Narcissa, frowning, "You only consented to lure her out of the school, whether through expulsion or leading her out the front gates."

"Well, why not the next Hogsmeade trip?" asked Regulus, clearing his throat to will his voice lower.

"I am not privy to the Dark Lord's inner most thoughts, but –" Narcissa's eyes flashed like blue steel to ward off any interruptions "– it seems he wants to acquire something first, and wants you to be able deliver her when he's ready."

Frustration exploded behind his navel, as well as a laugh.

"Oh, yeah, easy job."

Narcissa's cool gaze was like a needle to Regulus' temple.

"Your mother would have you think that you and Sirius are on different planets," said Narcissa, sighing and leaning on the balustrade beside Regulus once more, "But you're two sides of the same sickle – always have been."

The words, much to his chagrin, lifted the corners of Regulus' lips.

"Careful, you'll have mother thinking that I'm Dumbledore's man next."

Narcissa's sniff was loud in the night, "Not even Sirius is fooled by that… well, that old fool."

An easy air passed between the cousins, and Regulus felt the burning desire to rid himself of accidentally harboured information.

"Narcissa?"

A familiar cool penetrated the side of his face, and he knew she was listening – watching.

"Her daughter just had her second birthday," said Regulus, pausing and gulping, "They named her Nymphadora,"

Narcissa's hands fell away from the balustrade.

Regulus rushed out his next words before she could leave, "I saw the letter in Sirius' room before he..."

Narcissa didn't leave.

"Did I not warn you?"

The words pricked at the remnants of Regulus' sense of humour.

"Which time?" asked Regulus, turning and not bothering to smother his smile.

Narcissa's eyes vanished as she rolled them away from him, shaking her head.

"You're lucky it's only you and me against our family now, dear cousin."

"I would never –"

"Oh, _hush_."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

 **I've been wanting to make a proper cover for this story and was wondering if anyone could recommend any good websites or programs? Any help would be greatly appreciated, it's something I've never done before :)**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 22: Whomping Willow (preview) ~*_

 _There was no witty retort._

 _There was no eye roll._

 _It was a mistake._

 _Yelling was a mistake._

 _Saying those words was a mistake._

 _James knew it the moment he said them._


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Whomping Willow

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: I was working hard on this next chapter to get it out quickly! It was strange not having any reviews on my last two chapters while I wrote this one (I've missed everyone's takes on the chapters and was a bit lost on whether people liked the direction I took the story in) but, regardless, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and the ones to come :)**

* * *

Practicing Doubling Charms took up one half of Katherine's week after being released from the hospital. Detention took up the other half. But she couldn't complain, as her thirst to remember who had cast the near life-ending curse on her in Hogsmeade was quenched on her final evening of Detention.

McGonagall had Katherine helping Slughorn neaten the Potions classroom, and she found an old ratty textbook down the side of desk against the wall. Opening it to discover the owner to give it to Slughorn to return, Katherine found two different sets of handwriting – loose pieces of parchment shoved in with a vaguely familiar hand. In the predominantly scratchy scrawl, were the words 'Sectumsempra – for enemies'.

At once, Katherine's mind had clicked back together – partly, at least. She had seen those words before. She had held that textbook before. It had been snatched from her hands by the owner not a week earlier; by Severus Snape.

"Severus is so good a doubling charms - I don't think I can sit next by him and charms anymore… it's infuriating…" said Lily, laughing lightly as she and Marlene tried to double their bobby pins while they walked from Charms to Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Katherine blinked, drawn from her memory from the previous night.

"You're very quiet today, Katherine…" said Lily, looking up from her bobby pin on her palm.

"You never mentioned how your last detention went last night – they're supposed to be brutal to keep you from 'reoffending'." Marlene made quotation marks with her fingers.

Katherine chose her words carefully, "I found something – a textbook with the curse used on me written inside."

"That's excellent then!" Lily grinned, a hand landing on Katherine's arm, "Whoever it belongs to was the one to curse you, Katherine!"

Katherine sucked her cheeks as they stopped by the classroom door.

Lily's grin faltered and her brow furrowed, "Are you okay –"

"It was Snape's."

Lily blinked, shook her head, and stepped back.

"You're having a laugh."

Katherine shook her head, and felt her explanation and new knowledge swim up inside her, "I recognised the ratty old cover – and get this –"

Lily had taken another step back, and held up her hand.

"No, you're mistaken," said Lily, her green eyes like shields, "Severus wouldn't…"

"I saw him down in Hogsmeade – it all makes sense –"

"When you lied to me and got yourself cursed?" asked Marlene.

The edge to her usually jovial friend's tone made Katherine feel both hot and cold all over – and a little bit sick.

"No, you don't understand –"

"No, _you_ don't understand,"

Lily and Marlene were shoulder to shoulder in front of Katherine now, between her and the classroom door.

"We've all known each other _much_ longer than _you_ have, Katherine," continued Lily, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes at Katherine in a heart-squeezing manner, "How could you _possibly_ understand?"

Desperation stampeded through Katherine's chest, "People _change_ , Lily –"

"I guess they do." said Lily, with a thoughtful once over of Katherine.

With the slight pursing of her lips, Lily turned and marched through the doorway to the defence classroom.

Katherine turned, open-mouthed, to the only person left standing with her outside the classroom.

"Marley?"

Marlene simply shook her head, stepped through the doorway, and took the seat beside Emmeline.

Katherine couldn't feel her face – though she was sure she had egg on it.

"Oi, Spencer!" Her Captain's voice led Katherine's gaze to the back row of seats just inside the door.

James grinned and made a large motion with his arm.

"Come 'ere!"

Seeing Marlene and Lily turned around in their chairs; watching, Katherine slowly stepped over to the boys – painfully aware.

Katherine used her hand that wasn't clutching her books to her chest to tuck her hair behind her ears, "Yes?"

"We've a spare chair." said Sirius, lounging back in his own chair, flicking his hair from his face with one efficient swivel of his neck.

Katherine frowned at where the four boys crowded the bench.

"There isn't…"

James produced his wand and gave it a non-verbal flourish. In absence of his words, the table rocked on its feet before shooting out an extension of identical swirled wood. Another tap of the legs of his own chair – the doubling charm they were being taught was noticed immediately by Katherine – and a chair spun into corporealness, rattling to a stop on all four legs.

James smile was quietly sincere, "There is now."

The _CLICK_ of the door barely registered over Katherine's surprise at James' swift magic.

"If only you showed as much effort in your homework as you do in impressing girls, Mister Potter…"

James simply pulsed his eyebrows at Katherine before taking up his quill.

Professor Giles swept down the centre aisle of desks to the front of the classroom, "Counter charms are as important to have in your back pocket as your hexes and jinxes…"

With a wave of his wand, notes began scrawling themselves up on the blackboard.

It was in the back row of the class that she got a front seat to the note-taking dynamic she only heard from behind most days.

Even from a seat over, Sirius' quiet quill was loud in Katherine's ears. It scratched neatly against his parchment only a handful of times. Peeking, Katherine saw that he only wrote down the amendments Giles had mentioned off the cuff and the more obscure extra facts.

There was a sense of urgency on her left as Remus took down everything on the board and everything out of their Professor's mouth.

Peter constantly asked James, the two on the aisle end of the desks, what a word was on James' parchment and mentioned that James had written down things that Giles hadn't written or said.

"Merlin, Pete, you're cramping up sooner than usual," said James, putting down his quill as he finished, "Long night, hey?"

Remus frowned as he scratched out a word and re-wrote it, "He was practicing his patronus..."

James sat back in his chair, and let his eyes rove over his hunched friend beside him.

"I still don't understand how _you_ came to learn it," said James, a lop-sided smile blooming, "We all know you're brilliant, mate, but that magic is… _advanced_ …"

Katherine ducked her head lower to her parchment, and noticed Remus do the same out of the corner of her eye.

Sirius slapped James on the back with a bark of laughter, "Don't be bitter just because you're the last of us to manage it."

There was a prim hum from behind.

"Transfiguration's more his speed."

The voice was lower than any of the boys, and Katherine turned to find Giles standing behind them; quietly both amused and disapproving.

James too had turned, raising a hand in emphasis, "Exactly –"

His words whittled away at the sight of their Professor.

Giles unclasped his hands from behind his back, "The bell is about to ring, I suggest that you boys finish your notes,"

With crisp, echoing steps, Giles made his way back to the front of the room.

Katherine returned to her own finished notes fussing unnecessarily in hopes that he wouldn't scold her too.

"Oh, and, Katherine?"

Katherine's knee hit the bottom of the desk, and her eyes begrudgingly lifted.

Giles had paused, and inclined his head, "Please stay behind after class."

Once his back turned once more, and he closed in on his desk, there was the unmistakeable sound of flesh hitting flesh – _hard_.

"Lead head." snickered Sirius.

James shoved his friend back, a grin on his face all the while, "Oi!"

Any possible retaliation was drowned out by the ringing of the bell. A cacophony of sound erupted; chairs scraping, books slapping closed, and chatter breaking out.

Katherine wasn't to join everyone else in leaving their last class of the day, and packed her things slowly. It was while she was packing that she saw Remus wave in farewell to his friends before approaching Lily and Snape, mentioning something about patrols.

Snape was scowling, and when Remus left – Lily and Snape not far behind – Katherine overheard his thoughts.

"There's something about that Lupin, Lily…"

Lily's lips were in a stiff line as she exited the classroom.

It seemed to Giles too had the Gryffindor Prefect on the brain – for his name was almost the first thing to roll off his tongue once the door shut behind the last of Katherine's peers.

"You taught Lupin?" said Giles from his desk, leaning against the edge.

"The basics," Katherine cursed her voice for wavering, but continued on, "He seems to have managed it on his own."

"I'm not upset with you, Katherine," said Giles, with the most imperceptive of smiles, before turning away and raising his eyebrows thoughtfully, "I dare say it will be a rather useful piece of magic in the coming years…"

Katherine nodded, face warm from her gormless response, "Oh, right – yeah..."

Giles turned back, tilting his head at Katherine warmly, "I asked you to stay back because, especially after last weekend's incident –"

Katherine prepared for a more shame-inducing speech than McGonagall's.

"– that you should have this."

From his desk, Giles extended a scarce few inches of parchment to Katherine.

She knew what it was before it touched her fingertips, the neatly printed letters spelling out 'Hogsmeade Permission Form' across the top unnecessary.

"I…" Katherine lifted her eyes from the parchment, suddenly breath-starved, "Thank you, Professor."

Giles nodded once, and crossed his ankles where he leant against his desk.

"One condition,"

Katherine nodded.

Giles inclined his head, his eyes shining with tired amusement.

"You stay within the sight of a patrolling professor or in a group of at least three at all times."

* * *

It was good thing that Giles had signed up to patrol the next weekend, just after exams and before the trip home, as Katherine would have trouble with the other option in the ultimatum – without her usual trio she formed with Lily and Marlene.

The weekend bordering the Friday of her fall out with Lily over Snape, though, Katherine had to spend alone.

She saw no better way to spend it than by brushing up on her O.W.L revision in the library. With her sheer luck in potions, her averageness in Charms and Transfiguration, and her constantly tested pre-disposition for Defence Against the Dark Arts as the target of a Dark Wizard, Katherine scoured the shelves for books to help secure a better grade for Care of Magical Creatures.

"I prefer this one,"

Katherine looked up from the book she had just pulled down, to find another being extended to her. Glancing up, she found a pair of large, hazel eyes shining kindly but meekly across at her.

"It's the only one I've found that's somewhat sympathetic to the werewolves and the giants."

Katherine felt like nails had been driven through her shoes and foot, pinning them to the floor. She knew exactly who she stood before despite having never spoken to the girl. She was another intimately known student by the Daily Prophet.

"Thank you," said Katherine, trying a smile, "It's Mary, right?"

Mary MacDonald's long sleek, caramel bob – as smooth as the Butterbeer it shared a shade with – wobbled as she nodded, smiling wryly.

"And you're Katherine Spencer."

There was an air of comradery between the girls – at being known by everyone before you meet them – and being accustomed to sympathetic glances.

"You must be right into Magical Creatures to have found this." said Katherine, brandishing the old leather-bound book not mentioned on the term syllabus.

"It's one of my best subjects," said Mary, her rounded eyes falling to the book in Katherine's hands, her eyebrows gently knitting, "Creatures don't have agendas, if you're good to them they'll be good to you."

"My best class is defence," said Katherine, opening the book, " _Didn't stop me getting cursed, though so…_ "

A soft fall of air came from Mary's small nose, "And if that's you – what chance did _I_ possibly have?"

For a moment, Katherine had forgotten why she and Mary had anything in common. And she felt a slick shame in her throat as she lifted her eyes from the book – shutting it.

"I'm sorry about your father." said Katherine quietly.

She was unused to being on the other side of condolences.

"He was a good man," said Mary, nodding to herself, pausing, and then lifting her eyes to Katherine, "But then again, I'm sure yours was too."

Katherine didn't know what to say, but, it seemed, a certain Slytherin that came barrelling along in to Mary wasn't as short on words.

"Aren't you going to apologise?" sneered Avery, brushing down his robes.

Mary went as white as chalk.

Snape, hunched beside his housemate, gave a critical eyeing over of the scene, "It's the time they spend with the mudbloods – clumsiness is… _catchy_."

Katherine's wand slipped into her hand.

Avery's laugh was like ice, but when he recovered he leant down by Mary's face with a lascivious smile.

"We'll be seeing you again soon enough, Mary," Avery almost cooed, reaching out to straighten the shoulder of her robe with feigned care, "We'll let this one slide."

As Avery slunk away like a particular vile eel, Snape behind him, Katherine felt injustice swirl in the tips of her toes.

"Are they still cursing you?"

"Please don't tell me to tell a Professor," Mary's voice wobbled, "It's no use – they're like a hydra; you cut one head off and three more grow back…"

Katherine knew, intimately, the increasingly rampant corruption of students under Voldemort's campaign to give bigoted purebloods a cause for their blood prejudice.

She thought of Giles – the one person she had always gone to.

"What if told you that I could teach you something that might help?" said Katherine, brandishing the book Mary had handed her, "Since you helped me in your area of expertise."

Mary looked up from where she had taken to scrunching the hem of her jumper in her hands, "Something to help?"

Katherine nodded in what she hoped was an encouraging manner. After all, she and Mary were in the same boat.

"Have you ever tried to do a disillusionment charm?"

It was on the way back from the library, lighter with the knowledge that she had helped Mary MacDonald, that Katherine passed the only people she may have considered spending time with during her plight. Individually, Katherine might have stopped for the boys. Together, however, there seemed to be a force field of comradery between the four Gryffindors that Katherine couldn't cross.

Katherine made herself small as she passed, but she heard them all the while – even if they didn't hear her.

And she saw them, even if they were too entrenched in a hushed argument to notice her.

Peter wrung his hands as his feet dragged, "I know nobody asked me, but…"

Sirius' eyes flashed alongside his teeth, and his mouth opened.

"And _yet_ –"

"But I agree with Sirius."

Sirius paused, blinked, and then smiled.

"Let's hear him out." echoed Sirius' voice.

As she rounded the corner, she thought she heard Sirius again – but knew it to be impossible as the boys had been headed in the opposite direction as Katherine.

"I told you everything you needed to know,"

Two shadows stretched around a corner ahead of Katherine before the light of the wall torches spilt onto two sets of Slytherin robes.

"And you were still complicit in losing us the match,"

Regulus shook his head at the older boy walking alongside him.

"Why should I keep you on next year?"

Neither boy had noticed Katherine yet, she thought, for a moment, that she might be able to slip past them too.

"But Sirius is so _fast!_ It…it's like trying to catch _smoke_ –" Jones' eyes were wide, and his hands gesticulated wildly "– it's like trying to catch _smoke_ with your _bare hands_."

Regulus sighed, rubbing between his eyebrows and closing his eyes as long as he dared while walking, "Maybe we'll have to hold try outs next year…"

His eyes lifted after his last word left his mouth, and landed on Katherine. Regulus' step slowed, and he waved a hand listlessly at the boy scurrying up beside him. His eyes, however, remained with her.

"That will be all, Jones."

Jones took one look between Katherine and Regulus, frowned, and then hastened on.

Regulus' eyebrows pulled up and his lips un-pursed, his eyes roaming her no doubt ruffled school robes.

"Are you going somewhere?"

There was a pause after the chorused four words, a smile of quiet exasperation, and Regulus blinked.

"Not in particular," said Regulus', answering first and lifting his chin in her direction – eyes shielded and shining all the while, "What about you, Miss Spencer?"

"Just strolling." said Katherine.

"Two teenagers stuck inside, doing nothing," said Regulus, nodding in the direction of the sun-bathed courtyard, "On a day like this?"

Katherine regarded him sceptically, "What would you suggest to remedy such an injustice?"

Regulus blinked, fiddling with something in his trouser pocket.

"Tea." said Regulus in a breath, his shoulders lifting in a gentle shrug.

Katherine hesitated, unsure, and then said, "I would love to."

Regulus blinked, and he leant back – as if he caught himself from stumbling.

"With me?" Regulus' eyebrows pulled down and together, "But aren't you hanging around with my brother and his friends?"

"I can't do both?" asked Katherine, a tickle in her sternum – a laugh barely contained.

Regulus blinked, and smiled, "Not legally,"

His hands slipped out of his pockets and his feet slipped into a walk, but he paused, turning back with an exasperated smile and a crooked finger.

"Come on."

Katherine shuffled along, half a step quicker than Regulus' languid stride just to keep up.

"Where are we going?" asked Katherine.

"To the kitchens," said Regulus absently, his eyes scanning the hallway in front of them and his eyebrows raising thoughtfully, "I have quite an excellent rapport with the house elves – they let me come in and make my own tea whenever I fancy."

The narrowing of his eyes rippled through a rare, relaxed expression. Before Katherine could question it, his arm shot out in front of her.

His elbow was sharp against Katherine's sternum. She gasped and rubbed the spot, Regulus' hand easily closing around her elbow – winged to angle her hand to her chest.

They had halted, Katherine albeit gently gasping, at the joining of four hallways. It was at the sound of a familiar voice and multiple sets of shoes that Katherine found out why.

"Moony, where are you going?"

Regulus stepped backward into an alcove, the quasi-darkness enveloping Katherine too; her delving in elbow first.

She disappeared from the view of the hallway not a moment too soon. Safe from the incriminating light, Katherine watched as Remus ambled past Regulus' chosen alcove.

Sirius was at his heels, "We weren't done arguing."

"We were done," said James.

His voice appeared before him. He was smiling as he strut casually up the rear of the group with a scurrying Peter.

"You just didn't win, mate."

Remus paused in the middle of the hallway and closed his eyes a moment. The fluffy-haired boy sighed; sounding as if it were being thumped out of him by one of the Whomping Willow's branches.

"Hospital Wing." said Remus, blinking and battling to keep his shoulders un-hunched.

Katherine felt something uncomfortable close to her cheek, and instinctively turned.

Regulus was peering across at her, his black curls branching across the distance between them.

"What is it?" whispered Katherine.

Katherine worried that the heat of her cheeks would singe his hair.

Her worries were quelled, however, when he shook his head, his hair moving off her cheek in the action.

There was a delicate curve in his lips, "Nothing."

His hand vanished from her elbow, leaving opportunity for one of the castle's drafts to chill the exposed skin, and he vanished from the alcove.

Katherine stepped out of the alcove in a haze, watching Regulus brush down his robes until his heavy lids lifted to direct his rippling blue gaze to her.

"Shall we continue on?"

Katherine nodded. She couldn't bring herself to ask why he had hidden her too, so they continued on in silence to the kitchens.

When the door swung open the copper-gleaming sanctuary of the mass of bat-eared creatures Katherine was newly fond of, Katherine couldn't help but wonder how many people knew of the supposedly out of bounds room…

"Mister Black!" gasped a gleaming-eyed Binky, "We wasn't expecting you!"

Regulus grinned, genuinely – for the first time Katherine had ever seen. And it was the most endearing sight on the usually stone-faced boy. He _looked_ , for once, fifteen.

"Don't go to any trouble," said Regulus genially, inclining his head, "I'll be making tea for myself and Miss Spencer today, if that's alright?"

Binky nodded feverently, eyes wide and hands wringing in front of her, "Most certainly, sir."

The elf watched with both hesitance and deep admiration as Regulus sat near a tea set.

Regulus flicked his wrist to free it from his cuff as he reached for the teapot, "Which tea do you prefer?"

"Black." said Katherine, leaning back on the bench and watching him handle the tray with practised hands.

Regulus, however, paused, and blinked at Katherine.

"Yes, Spencer?"

Katherine realised her mistake, and laughed through a cringe, "Are you serious?"

Regulus' eyes glinted like the brass teapot he lifted once more.

"No," he said lightly, his lips curving, "I'm Regulus."

He allowed a moment of exasperation-filled tea-making – on Katherine's part, at least – before he spoke up again.

"So, I heard your little trio of Gryffindor's golden girls broke up."

Katherine busied herself with carefully stirring her sugar in, feeling his eyes on her.

"It's a duo now, I hear." said Katherine, trying to make like her sugar and not let any bitterness into her tone.

Regulus hummed, and finally lowered his eyes to his own tea.

"Seekers always work better alone."

Katherine ignored his personal philosophy in favour of her own curiosity. Their time alone always seemed to work in his favour – something Katherine sought to change.

"I've been meaning to ask…"

His face – angled down at his tea cup – didn't move. But his eyes flashed up.

"Why were you in the hospital wing – that day I…" Katherine trailed off, frowning at the memory and the lack thereof.

Regulus however, didn't betray a single emotion. He returned to stirring his tea – his eyes included – and laid his spoon back on the tray before he lifted his eyes to hers once more.

"Didn't they tell you?" said Regulus with the raise of his eyebrows and the gentle shake of his head, "I was the one that found you."

Katherine's mind splintered further. _She didn't remember that_.

Regulus didn't offer anything further, lifting his cup to his lips.

"Do… do you know what happened to me?" asked Katherine, a hand involuntarily lifting to soothe her suddenly aching head, "It's like I've had some dodgy memory charm cast on me…"

Regulus lowered his tea cup from his lips, and blinked across at Katherine, "If you can't remember anything, I'd say the charm was _quite_ sufficient."

"Do you…" Katherine broke off.

The sick hot and cold feeling from when she had proposed something not dissimilar to her friends crept in through her ear.

"Do _you_ think it was Snape?"

Regulus gulped down his sip of tea and placed his cup down on it's saucer.

"Could have been," said Regulus, folding his hands together on the table, "But then again, it could have been any of the numerous shady characters that seem to want to murder you at the moment."

Katherine frowned, and thought some more, "How about in the Quidditch match?"

"What about my failure left you with questions?" asked Regulus, reaching for his tea cup again and throwing Katherine a brief look of tired condescension.

Katherine wasn't perturbed.

Katherine's head shook side to side as she grappled with the memory, "You pulled out your wand,"

Regulus' eyes shot away – to a house elf doing nothing extraordinary outside making a sandwich.

"Were you going to hex me?"

Regulus's face collapsed in an expression of amused disbelief, and his eyes glittered across at Katherine once more.

"In front of the entire school?" asked Regulus, voice high.

Katherine didn't even blink.

Regulus snorted, and lifted his tea cup to his lips once more.

" _No_ , Katherine."

His answer only provided Katherine with more questions.

"Then why did you…"

"One of my esteemed fellow housemates was about to," said Regulus, putting down his drained cup, "I like to know that I've won on skill alone,"

He blinked daringly at Katherine, his hands finding space either side of himself on the edge of the table.

"I don't cheat."

"Pride?"

The word felt short on her tongue, like it should have been accompanied with a precocious 'Gryffindor'. _Sirius would not have hesitated with the jab_ – that much Katherine knew. Katherine, however, wasn't as brave – _or thick_ , as Lily would say.

Regulus tilted his head with a brief patronizing twitch of his lips.

"Reputation,"

No sooner than the word had left his mouth, had he used his newly placed hands on the edge of the table to push himself up and disentangle his legs and robes from the bench.

"Now," said Regulus, brushing down his robes in one regal sweep of his hands, "I think we should take exercise after those biscuits."

His proffered arm wasn't a suggestion – but a direction to be followed.

"You would risk being seen with me?" asked Katherine, remembering his earlier show when the Fifth year Gryffindor boys caught up to them.

Nevertheless, she slipped her hand along the inside of his bony arm as he pushed open the portrait door to the dungeons.

His smile was as smooth as the silk his robes were made of, "There are worse things,"

The corners of his eyes creased as they gleamed ahead, their feet climbing up the stairs; a mindful distance apart from each other's. He blinked once before he turned them on Katherine; still gleaming.

"Being seen with Bulstrode, for one."

Katherine was unable to help a laugh as they stepped out into the Entrance Hall.

Regulus however, sobered in a split second – and stopped walking nearly just as fast.

Katherine glanced around, and, as she did so, a faint breeze replaced Regulus at her side at the whisper of " _Snape_."

Not a second later, Snape indeed stalked past; heading for the courtyard.

"And you were being so brave," said Katherine, amused, as Regulus emerged from behind the one eyed witch statue.

Standing to his full height; eye level with Katherine, his narrowed eyes weren't lost on her.

Katherine looked away, beginning to walk again. It was as she pondered her next words that her eyes followed Snape's too-large-robes flapping down the lawns.

She really didn't want to know anything more about Severus Snape – lest it increase her trifle with Lily. Instead, she let herself compare the two brothers who were only alike in their erratic interactions with Katherine.

"Is keeping friendships in the shadows hereditary?" Katherine breathed out, letting her head fall back as she walked.

"Just smart," said Regulus with a graceful shrug.

Katherine turned to him and blinked once, slowly and pointedly.

"What?" asked Regulus.

Katherine shook her head, "Never mind."

" _Sirius_ ," sighed Regulus knowingly, smiling ahead, "He can be very nice, can't he?"

Katherine tucked her hair behind both ears and frowned, watching her shoes.

"I don't want to talk about Sirius." said Katherine.

Regulus raised his eyebrows, stumbling slightly. He stopped them with his hands around her wrists. There was a faint smile on his lips and a mischievous glint in his forget-me-not blues.

"Give me a second, I want to commit that to my long term memory." said Regulus as he closed his eyes.

Katherine's head fell back with her laughter, "You're terrible."

Regulus' smile widened before he opened his eyes again.

"I'm refreshed." said Regulus, taking in a deep breath of crisp air through his pink nose and sighing it out contentedly.

It was as Katherine pondered the strange dynamic in the Black brothers, that the one with her frowned and slowed by a portrait waving exuberantly.

"It's about _time_ ," said the man in the portrait primly, straightening his cap and stroking down his goatee, "I've a message for my great-great-great nephew, Regulus Arcturus Black, from his father."

There was a twitch in Regulus' temple.

"You go on," said Regulus to Katherine, nodding ahead with a strained smile, "I don't know how long this will be,"

Katherine nodded, took one last glance at Regulus' great-great-great-uncle who eyed her undisguisedly, and turned to go.

"And Katherine?"

Turning back, she found glinting eyes and a mocking half-smile.

"Make sure you don't turn your back on any other Slytherin's like you just did me."

A breath escaped Katherine's nose in indignation. She quietly seethed over his need for the upper hand all the way to the end of the hallway. Curious, and taking his advice, she glanced back at the Slytherin.

Regulus no longer stood indifferently in front of the portrait, but rather as if his spirit had been drained out of him through it.

 _Bad news_ , Katherine assumed.

It was as she wandered back to the common room that Katherine thought on the old adage that bad things always came in threes. Her fall out with Marlene and Lily…Regulus getting bad news from his family –

"Eyes like the devil – I tell you, Violet!"

Katherine's feet slowed by the portrait, and she carefully considered a break in the conversation between the fat lady and her frequently visiting friend Violet.

"Snidget."

Violet drank from a chalice she'd brought from her own painting, "And with a soul as dark as his name, no doubt."

Katherine cleared her throat, "Snidget!"

The Fat Lady turned to Katherine; sighing at being pulled from the throes of gossip.

"There's no need to yell, dear," said the Fat Lady as she swung open, " _There's enough of that going on inside already…_ "

Katherine found the Fat Lady's words to be true.

"Loyalty?" laughed James Potter, not a trace of humour in his voice.

Katherine winced at the volume, stepping out of the tunnel from the portrait to the common room.

James ceased mid-pace in front of the fireplace, shaking his scowl at Sirius.

"You don't know the meaning of the word!"

Sirius sat back in the armchair by the fireplace, his hands gripping the arm rests and his eyes set on the flames. He gave no sign that he had heard James apart from the pulsing of his jaw.

James raked his hands through his hair before letting them flop to his side, glasses flashing along with his eyes, "Should I watch out – are you going to go betraying me to merlin-knows-who because of your vendetta with Snivellus?"

Sirius blinked, and his lips parted. His eyes, like spikes, met James' daringly.

Nothing could have prepared Katherine for the sheer volume of voice the boy would use. It forced her eyes shut and left her ears fuzzy and wet.

"One amicable conversation with Evans and you're judgement is clouded!"

James' eyes shone malevolently and he shook his head slowly, dangerously.

Katherine half expected him to launch over the couch and tear into Sirius' neck like a wild animal, but he didn't.

James just held himself wider and lifted an arm, stabbing a finger at Sirius.

"Just because _your_ lot are a bunch of psychos who can't tell 'passion' from 'probable cause for a domestic violence trial in the Wizengamot' – doesn't mean that the rest of us are stupid when it comes to matters of the heart!"

James turned, pacing to the window; shoulders heaving slower.

"I'm furious because you jeopardised Remus – and _me_ – not because of the twat's friendship with Evans!" said James, turning back and fixing Sirius with a contemptuous glare.

Sirius was unmoved by James' rage. His eyes simply found the flames in the fireplace again, his scowl slowly evaporating. It was replaced with something darker – heavier.

"He deserved it."

James cried out in incredulity and whirled around; wide-eyed, "You're just like your family!"

* * *

There was no witty retort.

There was no eye roll.

It was a mistake.

Yelling was a mistake.

Saying those words was a mistake.

James knew it the moment he said them.

* * *

The common room turned to ice.

Katherine's eyes themselves were frozen open, watching James and Sirius.

Sirius had turned away from the fireplace with such speed his neck probably needed to be looked at; slack jawed and eyes huge.

James' own mouth gaped – as if waiting for the words to roll back in, if his heavy cheeks were spoke anything of his regret. His eyes, however, flickered from emotion to emotion.

James seemed to settle on wrath – ruthless and cutting, as he chose his next words, "Maybe you should go home and be a Death Eater so you can carry out your sick revenge plots with that bleeding mark on your righteous arm."

His words were sharp, but his voice wobbled.

His resolve held, however, in the days that followed. After turning and leaping up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, James didn't speak to Sirius once. Not even on the Quidditch Pitch – Sirius purposely reckless during practises; flirting with bludgers, and intercepting the passes James made – which were only ever directed at the graduating King.

Whispers between teachers of near expulsion had met her ears one morning– and unsettled her stomach as she watched Sirius walk the halls like a ghost. Katherine wondered if he was deserving of his family's reputation after all – and, despite his warnings, if Regulus truly was the tame one out of the brothers.

"Hey," the word was a sigh – _scratchy_ , as if they were his first words of the day "Is it okay if I sit here? All of the other tables are full."

Katherine looked up from her desk at the front of the potions classroom, and found Sirius Black's dark-circled gaze upon her.

Although cautious of the boy's loyalties after over-hearing his argument with James, Katherine recognised the loneliness and hesitance threading through his limbs.

She might have been staring into a mirror, despite their obvious dissimilarities.

"Of course." said Katherine, her voice coming out weak and slightly strangled from disuse.

 _They even sounded the same_ , she mused miserably as he dropped his bag onto the floor, kicked it under the desk and dwarfed the chair beside her.

The day had gone slowly without any classes with Hufflepuff – at least then, Katherine had her new friend; Mary MacDonald. And the seat beside her had stayed empty – until then. It was a stark contrast to what Katherine was now used to.

Sirius sat back against his chair when Slughorn started scrawling up notes, not quite lounging anymore but not sitting up perfectly straight either. His arm was leisurely extended along the desk as he took notes. The occasional sigh or squeak of his chair as he shifted drew Katherine's mind back to him from time to time.

It was with extra thought given to the boy that sympathy swelled up inside Katherine's stomach.

Katherine's falling out with her friends, as a small mercy, wasn't the talk of the school. Katherine felt a sudden spark of admiration at the indifferent expression on Sirius' face as words about him reached their ears from the Slytherin's around them.

"Insanity runs in his family…"

Sirius raised an eyebrow as he dipped his quill into his crystal ink well, "It practically gallops."

The Slytherins went on in their gossip; unhearing of Sirius murmured words.

"Could you be quiet?" asked Jones, scratching his nose and then proceeding to stick a finger part-ways up one nostril, "I'm trying to think."

A soft fall of air came from Sirius' nose, and a bored, drawling voice came from his lips, "Don't worry, doing anything for the first time is difficult."

Katherine's lips tightened to contain the laugh rolling up her throat and into her mouth. Despite her best efforts, a quiet fall of amused breath came from her lips.

Sirius gave a sideways smile, but continued with his notes.

It was at the still-present crease at the corner of his eyes that Katherine immediately understood – so instantaneously, so intimately, that it frightened her.

 _Sometimes, joking about it the only way you could open your mouth without screaming._

"Whatever he did," said Katherine, gulping.

Everyone knew it had to do with something Snape had done, at least – the whispers of expulsion and the argument.

Sirius' head lifted.

Katherine couldn't bring herself look at him, lest she lose her nerve. It was in avoiding his eyes that she caught the curious sight of Snape leering over James' notes with his wand. It emboldened her.

"I'm sure he deserved it."

Sirius was very still, so still that Katherine wasn't sure if he had heard her. She lifted her eyes.

His eyes roved her face, as if to discern her sincerity, and – it seemed, with a twitch of his lips – that he found it. The smile that succeeded the twitch wasn't smug or righteous – it was fond, friendly. Nothing of the like she had experience from the boy before –

"Now, that should be enough time studying the method," Slughorn punctuated his words with the clasping together of his hands as he looked out over the classroom. "You are to make the Invigoration Draught in the pairs you are sitting in – you have one hour."

Tendrils of smoke shot from the tip of Slughorn's wand and formed a countdown above his head.

The crowd of robes at the ingredient cupboard was instant, and Katherine eyed it apprehensively.

"I'll get the ingredients." said Sirius, without hesitation and with a patient smile.

Katherine kept in her sigh of relief, but couldn't keep her relief from her voice, "I'll get the cauldron going."

Using her wand to set the temperature of the flame beneath her cauldron, Katherine glanced around at her classmates. It was as she happened across a yawning Remus Lupin wiping his sleep-crusted eyes with the inside of his thumb that she spied the curious sight of Snape tying his shoe laces by the bench; looking around.

"The alihosty leaves smelt old, so I grabbed some from my own stores."

Katherine's eyes snapped back to her own bench – to a returned Sirius – like elastic bands.

"Oh, excellent," said Katherine, feeling her eyes stray back to the suspicious Slytherin.

The returning students from the cupboard crowded the spaces between benches, and Katherine's view was compromised.

"The moondew goes in first…" said Katherine, mainly to herself, as she returned her attention to the potion.

"Then the billy wig…" said Sirius, picking up a knife and the brown sprigs to prepare them to the recipe's specifications of slices.

Steam rose from the warm cauldron at the addition of the moondew, and through it, Katherine saw Snape only just returning to the bench he shared with Lily; without ingredients, and with a fistful of loose parchment.

"What is it?"

Sirius glanced up at her between slices of the billy wig sprigs.

Katherine blinked back at Sirius, "What's what?"

Sirius pushed the billy wig sprigs deftly to the side of the cutting board with the blade of the knife. His eyes lifted, his face still turned down, and there was a glint of silver – this time not from his eyes, but from the knife he flourished in the general direction of her face.

"You're thinking hard about something," said Sirius, putting down the knife and lifting his own fingertips to his forehead, stopping short, "Your forehead creases a certain way…"

It was at that moment when Katherine felt unequivocally _seen_ for the very first time in her life.

"Snape is up to something." said Katherine, turning her warm cheeks away to the subject of her words.

Sirius cleared his throat, and Katherine felt him wipe his hands on her apron.

Startled, she turned and realised that he had done so as an excuse to disguise from prying eyes as he whispered, "I'll cause a distraction."

"You'd throw yourself into trouble's way like that?" Katherine's brow felt heavier than ever, and she leant back to see Sirius better – perhaps for the first time, properly, "For _me?_ "

Sirius lowered his face to Katherine's, his eyes flashing like the lightning outside.

"It wouldn't exactly be the first time." said Sirius with a gently incredulous expression, softened by the earnest curve in his lips.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets – a hand ghosting over the pile of asphodel on its way into his robes – Sirius hummed an unrecognisable tune as he feigned a trip to the ingredient cupboard.

Feeling a pang of thrill at being complicit in an act of subterfuge, Katherine slowly made her way to where Snape and Lily were starting their potion. Glancing constantly at where Sirius travelled parallel to her on the other side of the benches, she timed herself to not draw attention to herself until he'd made his distraction.

It was as he feigned a slip on a puddle of dropped moon dew and needlessly grabbed onto the back of Goyle to hide his throwing of asphodel into the boy's potion that Katherine moved quickly.

The loose bits of parchment stuck out of Snape's book that was conspicuously closed – out just enough to read. For Snape _and_ Katherine.

Katherine knew immediately that it wasn't his handwriting upon the parchment, having not forgotten the cramped, spidery script of the curse that nearly had her bleed out in Hogsmeade.

The writing was familiar still. But Katherine's mind scattered in a million directions – to the plays she went over for Quidditch at practices, to the noticeboard in the Gryffindor common room, and to sitting in the back of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

A realisation ricocheted through Katherine's brain with the same force as the succession of explosions of Goyle's potion.

 _James was brilliant at potions_. His father was a Potioneer – the greatest of the current generation and the last; the inventor of staples like sleek-ezy and the descendant of Linfred of Stinchcomb who created skele-gro.

And Snape had been leering over James' notes with his wand out – not tying his shoelaces; completing the motion of the doubling charm that Lily sang his praises for mastering. _Of course_ he had mastered it, mused Katherine – _he'd been masquerading with James' knowledge the entire time._

Katherine blinked, recovered from her shock, and slunk back to the bench where the Invigoration Draught was turning from gold to a snot colour. Closing her hand around the pile of Alihotsy leaves, Katherine sprinkled them into the potion and stirred clockwise three times.

Ladle down and breath bated, Katherine watched the potion bubble and shimmer. It pulsed, wavered, gleamed, but it didn't turn the particular and required shade of emerald green.

A shoulder against hers felt like sinking into a warm bath.

Her concern for the potion vanished.

With a glance to her left she found Sirius back from the other side of the room, a gentle nudge from his elbow, and a smile of comradery.

Together Katherine and Sirius stood in the soft silence of their joint deed. It was only broken by their mutual reaching for the discarded ladle and Sirius' murmur of –

"Maybe an anti-clockwise stir…"

Katherine started in on three of them, and, when she was finished, the potion creamed over to a brilliant emerald.

"What a potion!"

Katherine jumped, and in doing so realised how close she and Sirius had been standing in observation of their potion; the button of her robes catching on his.

Slughorn closed in, sniffing the cauldron, "The purity is off the charts!"

Sirius reached down and deftly slipped their buttons apart in enough time for them to both turn and smile bashfully at their potions Professor.

Slughorn laughed merrily, before clapping his hands down on a shoulder each of Sirius and Katherine, pushing them together.

"What a pair you make!" said Slughorn before bussing off to check on their neighbour's potion.

Looking up, Katherine found all of the Gryffindors' eyes in the room on them – all a mixture of hesitant awe. It was the first time she had locked eyes with Lily and Marlene all week.

"Thanks, Katherine."

Katherine looked up, unsure if she heard the words, "For what?"

Sirius shook his head with a grin, his hand hovering over the brown paper packet of billy wig.

"I'll put the ingredients away if you clean the cauldron?"

It was no use; his purposely being obtuse. Katherine heard the non-verbal ' _for supporting me_ ' as loud and clear as if he'd spoken it.

Katherine cleaned the cauldron with a quick _Scourgify_ and had packed her bag by the time the bell rang. She hesitated before leaving, Sirius not having returned yet.

In her hesitance she became privy to results of James and Snape leaving the room within a metre of one another.

"Maybe you're the bad influence, Potter," said Snape, his grin juxtaposing his scathing tone, "One potions lesson without you and Black's top of the class."

Katherine's words demanded to be spat out, too sharp to swirl on her tongue any longer.

"I think you know that's not true," said Katherine, stepping forward into the light, "Otherwise, why would you have been stealing James' notes all term?"

Snape whirled around, his limp curtain of hair parting from the sudden movement.

"I'm only new, though," said Katherine, feeling something bloom and roll around her chest – something strengthening, "Maybe you've been stealing them since first year..."

"What?" said Snape, clutching his bag's strap across his chest tighter, "Why would I steal that dunderhead's notes?"

The sun suddenly no longer shone on Katherine's shoulder.

"What did you just call me?"

James squinted at Snape from beside Katherine, pushing his glasses up his nose in a none-too-gentle manner.

The _SLAP_ of James' textbook against the workbench behind them made Katherine's eyes slam shut instinctively. When she opened them again, Remus was extending an arm out between James and Snape.

But Sirius stalked in from the side, his wand slipping deftly into his hand from up his sleeve.

Remus looked as if he were a rag doll with two invisible parties pulling on his arms, trying to keep a permanent block between his friends and their sworn enemy.

"James – _Sirius_ –"

Katherine thought she had a better way to diffuse the situation, and slipped under Remus' arms – not being of his concern – and snatched the loose parchments stuffed into Snape's worn textbook.

"Then what are these?"

James' lips quirked.

Sirius crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows smugly at Snape, his wand still peeking out of his left hand where it was folded beneath his right elbow.

Snape glared and made towards Katherine, hand outstretched.

No sooner than Katherine turned to look at her won handful of parchments, were they snatched from _her_.

"Severus…" said Lily slowly, her eyes roaming the parchments and then lifting, "That's Potter's handwriting."

James smile faltered, "You recognise my handwriting, Evans?"

But Snape had stepped forwards, his large nose poking further out of his hair than Katherine had ever seen it.

"Lily, please," said Snape, all but falling to his knees, "You were always so good at Potions, I just wanted to have something in common with you."

James' rolled his eyes.

"We have plenty in common." said Lily, shaking her head and squinting.

Snape gulped, "Not since we started Hogwarts."

Lily visibly bristled.

"You're my oldest friend," said Lily, throwing down the parchments, "I'm not just going to cast you away."

Snape's eyes were comically wide – pleading, "I had to be sure."

"By stealing!?" Lily crossed her arms, scowling, "All this time… I thought that you were brilliant at Potions,"

Lily's scowl eased as she turned, an expression of awe and reticence replacing it.

"But it was him." said Lily, almost at a whisper.

James shuffled his feet beneath the gaze he often monologue about to Sirius, clearing his throat.

Snape swore beneath his breath, glared at the struck expression on Lily's freckled face being directed at James, and went to stalk from the room.

Lily didn't notice.

Snape's shoulder was sharp against Katherine's and he paused, not to glare, but to lean next to her ear.

"You'll pay for this." snarled Snape, before his robes billowed out of the door.

The words chilled Katherine to her feet. All she could do was stare ahead, feeling ripped from the amicable scene of Sirius reuniting with the other Gryffindor boys.

"I was sorry to hear about your Uncle Alphard, mate…" said James, with a rough hand on Sirius shoulder, "My condolences."

Sirius opened his mouth as if to speak, but shut it again – and gulped. There was flash in his eyes – of, surprisingly, _fear_.

James' arm hooked around Sirius' neck, their fronts slapped together, and James' other arm encircled Sirius' back; patting it.

Sirius held James back, his face in his friend's shoulder. His hands were white and clung to the back of James' robes.

"People change, huh?"

Flaming locks gleamed in Katherine's periphery under the afternoon sun.

Katherine didn't dare allow hope to spring forth in her chest.

"Do you… do you believe me?" asked Katherine, her eyes adamantly forward.

"Maybe," Lily sounded rooms away, not right next to her, "If I see it for myself; maybe..."

" _Thank_ goodness – I've had stuff to tell you for _days_ , Katherine," Marlene looked like a deflating balloon – a grinning one, " _Willoughby Whisp!_ "

The Seeker had retired earlier in the week – it seemed neither girl had anyone to discuss it with without the other around.

Katherine's grin almost split open her face, "I know, right?"

That afternoon, Katherine had a cherished companion again in the library; Lily. No matter how jubilant of a mood she was, Marlene still didn't join the girls in studying though. The only subject they steered clear of – was Snape.

"Katherine, I've done it!"

Katherine's eyes pinned open – her eyebrows climbing her forehead as she looked around at her name.

Mary Macdonald bounded up to the table, but stopped short at the sight of Katherine's company; waving.

"Oh – hello, Lily!" said Mary, brightly, before turning back to Katherine, "I spent every afternoon in front of the mirror practicing, but today I finally managed a full disillusionment charm!"

"I should have figured you two would get on," said Lily with a smile, pulling out the chair next to her, "Won't you join us, Mary?"

Mary's yellow robes broke up Katherine and Lily's huddle of red by the window; trying to catch the scarce summer cross breezes.

"It's getting late…" yawned Lily.

Madam Pince had started to pack up her desk – _late indeed_ , thought Katherine.

"Would you mind –"

"Walking you back?" Lily smiled at the doe-eyed Hufflepuff next to her, bowing her head, "I always will, Mary."

"You two go on," said Katherine, her hand falling on the top book of their stack, "I'll put these books back."

"Are you sure?" asked Mary, her eyebrows knitting together and raising up.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Snape accosting her on the staircase landing just shy of Gryffindor Tower after an uneventful, prefect and professor-less stroll, it seemed.

"Is that a wand in your pocket or are you just –"

There was a crackling BANG and a flash of light, speeding along the cried word –" _Levicorpus!_ "

Katherine's knees bubbled with adrenalin – and she dove out of the way. The stone of the landing rushed against her skin, a cool relief on the hot night – before it split open.

"That's a wand." said Katherine, breathless, pushing herself up and producing her own.

Snape squinted and tilted his head, his wand out in front of himself, "You mouth is open, sound is coming from it – that's never good."

"What do you want, Snape?" asked Katherine, ignoring the eye-needling pain emanating from the arm she lifted her wand with.

"Did you fall down and smack your little head on the stone?" snarled Snape, shaking his head at her, "A _duel_ , Spencer."

Katherine ignored the niggle of self-consciousness at never having properly duelled outside the classroom before.

"For what?"

"Winner gets Lily."

The first second after the words left Snape's mouth, Katherine's brain couldn't comprehend the barbaric proposal.

"Lily isn't a prize to be won," spluttered Katherine, blinking and shaking her head, "She has her own free will – and just because she's using it to avoid you, it doesn't mean you have to go and do… _this_."

"Fine then," said Snape, holding his wand a little higher – still levelled at Katherine, "To see if I'm better than the 'Chosen One'."

Bitter amusement reared up in Katherine's neck and an incredulous laugh pulsed up Katherine's throat.

"Cowardly cursing me with my back turned wasn't enough for you?"

Snape's eyes flashed malevolently – even in the dark and at distance, "Expelliarmus!"

Katherine slashed her wand down in front of her.

"Protego!"

The red jet of light bounced harmlessly off the translucent shield.

Snape held himself wider, stepping forward.

"Stupefy!"

Katherine ducked, scrambling up the stairs as well as she could backwards; an uncomfortable pull in her neck.

" _Impedimenta!_ "

The step just below her feet rumbled.

Katherine kept on.

Snape stepped up on the blackened step a moment later.

Katherine was almost to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Black isn't here to save you this time, Spencer!"

Katherine hadn't even taken a breath – let alone a moment for thought on the words – when light was leaving Snape's wand again.

" _Densaugeo!_ "

She fell to her knees, the bottom corner of the Fat Lady's gold frame shocking the soft joint of her shoulder. Her mouth felt suddenly too small – fingers lifting to her lips, Katherine found her teeth growing and twisting past her lips – to her chin –

" _Sectumsempra!_ "

A flash of light hurtled across Katherine as well as towards her, a weight ploughed into her side, and she was hurtled out of the way – onto a run transfigured into a mattress.

"You see,"

Sirius flicked his hair from his eyes with the barest turns of his neck, looking away from Katherine who was cradled beneath his limbs and to a fuming Snape.

"That's what they call counting your owls before they've hatched, isn't it?"

Snape lifted his wand again, "You weren't to whom I was referring, blood-traitor."

Sirius didn't bat an eyelid. He pushed himself up from the non-verbally transfigured mattress and extended his hand – the right, wandless one – to Katherine.

"Miss Greengrass, it isn't necessary that you accompany me –" Two shadows flickered around the corner from the trophy room, Slughorn's voice distant, "You've done your duty by reporting a duel."

"Too soon!" cried Snape, turning and flapping away into the dark recesses of the castle.

The portrait wasn't a viable option for escape – the password bound to be overheard. Slughorn could simply ask the Fat Lady who the last people that she let through were too.

Sirius tugged on her hand, pulling her over to where James stood with a handful of fabric uncannily similar to Katherine's Aunt's drapes.

"What are you –"

The fabric was cast over the three with a cool rush of air, settling as Slughorn and Greengrass appeared around the corner in their robes and slippers.

It was as if Katherine was watching the scene through a thin film.

James' breath was hot against the skin behind Katherine's ear, "You're safe – they can't see us."

It still didn't change the obscure feeling of anxiety brought forward by standing on a landing after curfew under drapes while a Professor approached.

Greengrass twirled around, her eyes looking right through Katherine, "But it was _right_ here – I heard –"

The childlike feeling of being humoured didn't come like it would to when choosing an obvious hiding place. Slughorn and Greengrass _couldn't_ see them.

"Perhaps you overhead some students practicing for their Defence O.W.L, hey?" said Slughorn, turning, "You look a little stressed, Miss Greengrass, perhaps you should get some rest…"

It was as they rounded the corner again – Greengrass dragging her feet – that there was a second rush of cool air.

The drape-like-fabric tangled around their limbs, and Katherine caught one of the boy's elbow to her mouth.

Katherine's hand went to her grotesquely large teeth, "Ouch…"

Sirius and James squinted through the weak torch light.

Sirius' eyes were the first to relax, "Oh – _Katherine_ …"

Sirius turned to James, but his eyes continued to rove Katherine's plight.

"Hospital wing?"

James grimaced sympathetically at Katherine, and nodded, "Hospital wing."

Thoughts of – not the hospital wing, but a swamped Giles with seventh years hounding him day and night for just-thought-of questions they might need to know for their N.E.W.T's.

"No!" Katherine panicked, not wanting to alert Giles – which Madam Pomfrey would have no choice but to do, "No – let me see if Lily can fix it first."

Her prefect friend wasn't in the common room when they returned; James and Sirius holding Katherine up to stop her over-balancing with her suddenly sprouted teeth. The Head Boy, however, _was_.

"What's happened?" asked Gideon, clambering to his feet from a sunken arm chair.

James and Sirius looked to Katherine at the same time she looked to them.

"Come on, I'd like to help," said Gideon, sighing, "I'm Head Boy, surely that's an asset."

Sirius snorted, "And he's only off by two letters."

"Have you seen Evans?" asked James, loudly, to cover up his friend's words.

"She went up to bed about an hour ago."

James turned to Katherine, raising his eyebrows, "Will you let us take you to the hospital wing now?"

Gideon frowned, stepping forward, "I'll take her."

"We're perfectly capable, Prewett." said Sirius, his eyes shining with something akin to – but not quite – mirth.

Gideon and Sirius shared in a charged stare.

"Four arms and legs between us." said James, his laugh short and strained.

The slapping down of his hand on Sirius' shoulder seemed to wake the boy from his stare.

"And despite what people may think from all my family's inbreeding, I have all ten fingers and toes." said Sirius, his moon-shaded eyes closing a long, daring blink.

Gideon crossed his arms, "If you two walk in with her hexed to Australia and back, Pomfrey will assume you did it."

"I resent that." said James, his tone coloured with his entertainment.

"But you'll accept it," said Gideon, inclining his head and extending his hand, "and hand her over."

James' arm didn't shift from below Katherine's shoulders where he held her up.

"Are you sure you don't need a hand –"

"I've got two," said Gideon, nodding at Katherine, "And there's nothing wrong with her legs either."

"Oh, yeah, I guess they're alright." said Sirius, his arm falling from Katherine's back below James'.

"Quite nice, actually." said James with a glance at the mentioned limbs and quick grin at Katherine.

James' arm fell away, and Gideon shooed them with a nod of his head behind himself.

Katherine watched helplessly as James and Sirius walked around either side of Gideon, stuffing their hands in the pockets and glancing back once they were shoulder to shoulder once more and already on the boys' staircase.

"Come on, then," said Gideon with a sympathetic smile, crossing to the portrait.

It wasn't until they had navigated three sets of moving staircases that Gideon spoke again.

Gideon cleared his throat, gesturing to Katherine's hexed teeth, "Was it…"

The suggestion in his voice threw her back to the start of the term – when she had been caught in the passage that filled with water. So much had happened since.

"It was a run of the mill schoolyard squabble this time."

Gideon gave a sideways frown and shake of his head, "Over what?"

"Lily."

Gideon sighed, watching his step once more, "I'll have a word to Slughorn about Snape"

"If you do I'll get in trouble too." said Katherine, moving her hands to conceal her teeth better.

The bottoms of her front teeth ran alongside the inside of her busted up forearms – all the way to her elbows.

"Oh…yeah," Gideon blinked and rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry – bit frazzled with all my classes lately…"

"Miss Spencer!"

Madam Pomfrey rushed out of the open doors to the Hospital Wing.

"What's happened now?"

Katherine thought quickly, "Some first years were experimenting in the common room…spell went awry…"

Madam Pomfrey sighed, gingerly took Katherine by the elbow, and guided her through to sit on one of the vacant beds.

"I know just the spell that should do it," said Pomfrey, reaching beneath the bed and producing a hand mirror, "You'll need this to tell me when they return to normal…"

Katherine felt her eyes sting as she sighted her teeth in the mirror, longer and more twisted than she was used to.

Madam Pomfrey frowned in concentration, and glanced at Gideon where he watched on with a frown.

"She could probably use a distraction…it can be quite painful…"

"Oh, right, er…" Gideon blinked, pausing before tentatively continuing, "Have you ever heard about the time all of Fabian's teeth got knocked out by a bludger in our fourth year?"

It was suddenly as if screws were being driven through Katherine's gums. Her toes curled, her tears spilled down her cheeks, and Katherine shook her head to answer Gideon.

"All I can say is that I'm glad it wasn't me playing…" said Gideon, his eyes out the window – in the direction of the darkened Quidditch Pitch, " _Looked like a gormless red cap…_ "

In the mirror, Katherine's teeth glided over her bottom lip; shrinking. They twisted – straighter than Katherine had ever seen them. Her lips closed easily now.

"Stop!" the word shot forth from Katherine's transfigured mouth, and Pomfrey lowered her wand.

The word sounded different, Katherine's tongue no longer getting in the way of her teeth.

"Alright, off to be then," turning and bustling away to one of the students staying overnight in the bed over, "You should sleep off any remaining tenderness."

Katherine turned to Gideon, "What were you saying again?"

Gideon shook his head as if it suddenly took on the weight of stone, his eyes glazed, "I don't remember."

Katherine's hand came up to her lips, "Is something wrong?"

Gideon's hand stopped hers short of her mouth, lowering it down.

"No, no – nothing's wrong." said Gideon quickly, with a smile just as so.

* * *

If her friends noticed the change in her teeth, they didn't mention it. Not even Mary, who was rarely without the Gryffindors after the run in at the library with Katherine – seeming to know better only days into their new friendship.

Largely owing to the fact that Katherine only opened her mouth when necessary, it seemed that no one had noticed anything different about her whatsoever.

That all changed, however, on the walk from breakfast to Charms two days after her duel with Snape. With a tug at her hair, Katherine expected the usual flick of her plait – but there was nothing. Confused, Katherine turned. Like usual, she found nothing but a river of students – none of them looking at her.

It was as she turned back, her books clutched a bit tighter to her chest, that Katherine realised what had changed. Her hair unravelled against the back of her neck, and, reaching back, Katherine found that her hair tie was _missing_.

Before she could even begin to mourn her only hair tie, dazed and confused, she collided with a hard shoulder.

"Sorry –" Stebbins' eyes flew up for the identity of who he was apologising to, and his eyes widened, "S-spencer…"

Katherine crouched down to collect her books, "Don't worry about it, Stebbins."

Stebbins too crouched down to retrieve his own books.

"Is it…" said Stebbins, handing Katherine one of her textbooks with a smile, "Is it too late to sign up for Alchemy?"

"Thanks," said Katherine, standing to her feet and manoeuvring her neck to flick her hair behind her shoulders, "And, yes; it is too late, the cut off was Easter –"

"Come on, Katherine, we'll be late!"

Lily waved at Katherine from the end of the hallway.

With an apologetic smile, Katherine hastened down the hallway – away from the strange encounter.

After Charms though, Katherine wasn't prepared for lunch in the Great Hall to hold even more strangeness.

"You really are clueless, aren't you, Katherine?" asked Marlene as Ernest Winkle passed by the table for the fourth time.

Katherine looked up from her plate of fruit, "What?"

"They're looking at _you_." said Marlene with wide, exasperated eyes.

"I don't understand," said Katherine, looking around the hall, "Has Snape slipped the entire school a love potion or something?"

Mary was at home, despite being the only yellow set of robes at the Gryffindor Tower, as she knocked elbows with Katherine, "That's all _you_ , my friend."

"Me?" Katherine felt uncomfortably warm, "But – but it's never happened before –"

"Katherine!"

Bradley Davies, Katherine having only seen him in their game against Ravenclaw, approached; book in hand.

"I read this book on broom maintenance that I thought you'd like."

Katherine accepted the book with buzzing hands, looking around at everyone looking at her. The sensation was akin to wearing four jumpers over one another – the stares uncomfortably tight.

"Oh, thank you, Bradley," said Katherine with straining politeness, standing as suddenly as she thought, "I've just got to go to bathroom though – if you'll excuse me…"

Lily's hand on her elbow stopped Katherine, "Do you want me to come with you?"

"I'm just going to finish my apple in the courtyard," said Katherine quietly, frowning and whispering even quieter, "If we all go – they'll follow."

She got to read a whole of two pages of the book Davies had given her in solitude where she sat in a stone archway.

"I didn't peg you as a fan for the Wasps."

Katherine recognised the boy in the year below her – barely. He was the brother of Damocles Belby and a beater on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

"Oh, I'm not – someone just gave it to me, thinking I'd be interested…" said Katherine, shrugging and closing the cover of the book, " _More of a fan of the Harpies_."

Belby' eyes flashed, and a grin split his face in half, "My cousin flies for the Harpies and I've got tickets for a game in the summer – if you're interested?"

"She's already accepted one of my extra tickets for that game, I'm afraid."

The bored, drawling voice of Sirius Black was unmistakeable. He crossed his arms, his robe and vest missing; his jagged scar on his left forearm on display, segmented in half by a hair tie.

"Oh, Black!"

Marcus took an immediate step back, "I didn't see you there –" Belby's eyes flashed to Katherine before he pointed back in the direction of the Entrance Hall lamely, "I'll, er… be going."

Sirius looked from the retreating back of Belby to Katherine, smiling haughtily but friendily so; uncrossing his arms.

"I saw him follow you out of the Great Hall," said Sirius, stepping slowly up next to Katherine at the arch, bracing his hands on the stone, "Couldn't be sure if he was friendly."

"Thanks," said Katherine, laughing at the absurdity of her day, and shaking her head.

Wanting to impart her sincerity, she laid a hand over his wrist.

" _Truly_."

Sirius looked from his hands to Katherine, flicking his hair from his face; smiling like he had in Potions.

"I hope you'll forgive my lie too," said Sirius, craning his neck to lower his face to Katherine's, his smile shifting to something more sympathetic, "You looked frightened."

Katherine laughed, raising her eyebrows, "So, you're not here to declare your undying love for me?"

Sirius leant back, standing back to his full height; eyes flashing and mouth slack.

"Sorry," the words shot from Katherine's gut where bashfulness bloomed, "Lily's got it in her head that... never mind –"

"There's my Seeker, have you heard about _Sprintwitches_ new –"

James Potter's unruly hair shone under the afternoon sun, and his sudden grin was just as bright.

"Padfoot!"

Sirius' hand slipped out from underneath Katherine's, "Prongs,"

With the clearing of his throat, Sirius stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"You two obviously have business to discuss – I'll head back in and grab something to eat before Lunch finishes." And with that, Sirius loped off gracefully, turning his face up to the sun as he went.

"I've got to check on the bludgers before practice this afternoon,"

James words coaxed Katherine's head back around to where her Captain was smiling.

"Walk with me?"

Katherine nodded, using her hands to push herself off the archway, "Sure."

"As I was saying… _Sprintwitches_ – they've got these new boots in store that have compression pads woven in so that your legs don't go dead in long games." said James, the light fractioning through the courtyard archways to cast flickering shadows across his excited expression.

Katherine was mindful of not disturbing that expression, but couldn't deny her curiosity.

"How did you… _Sprintwitches_ is a female outfitter…"

James turned away, watching the tapering stone pathway from the courtyard down to the lawns.

"I…er…got a subscription to their catalogue once you joined the team," James' hand went to his hair, "It meant we had two out of seven players shopping there – and you're arguably the most important member on the team –"

"I don't care, Severus!"

James' head turned, and his hand dropped from his hair.

Katherine's head swung around at the name only Professors and one of her closest friends addressed the Slytherin by.

Lily and Snape were walking across the castle courtyard, evidently arguing.

Katherine's eyes hurried after the pair, and her ears strained.

James' shoulder was warmer than the sun as he turned to watch next to her, "That doesn't look good…"

The warmth vanished as he stepped forward.

"Are you going to follow them?" asked Katherine.

Even if her hand to didn't reach to catch him, her words seemed to.

James turned back with a hybrid smile of daring and bashfulness, "Don't pretend like you don't want to."

"I can disillusion us." said Katherine, producing her wand.

James grinned, reaching into his bag, "I've got something better."

A shimmering cloak spilt out of his fist, and his shoes disappeared. Before Katherine could remark on the cloak of invisibility, it was cast over her – and James – and they were loping after Lily and Snape.

"…thought we were supposed to be friends?" Snape was saying by the time Katherine and James caught up, "Best friends?"

"We are, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging around with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! _Mulciber_! What do you see in him, Sev? He's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary MacDonald the other day?"

Lily had reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into the thin, sallow face of Snape.

"That was nothing," said Snape, "It was a laugh, that's all –"

"It was dark magic, and if you think that's funny –"

"What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?" demanded Snape. His colour rose again as he said it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment.

"What's Potter got to do with anything?" said Lily.

"They sneak out at night. There's something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?"

James scoffed beside Katherine, " _You know, you slit git…_ "

"He's ill," said Lily, "They say he's ill –"

"Every month at the full moon?" said Snape.

"I know your theory," said Lily, and she sounded cold, "Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?"

"I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as every seems to think they are."

"They don't use dark magic, though," Lily dropped her voice, "And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there –"

Snape's who face contorted and he spluttered, "Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to – I won't let you –"

" _Le_ t me? _Let_ me?"

Lily's bright green eyes were slits.

Snape backtracked at once.

"I didn't mean – I just don't want to see you made a fool of – he fancies you, James Potter fancies you!"

The words seemed wrenched from him against his will.

"And he's not…everyone thinks…Big Quidditch hero –"

Snape's bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent.

Lily's eyebrows were travelling further and further up her forehead.

"I know James Potter's an arrogant toerag," she said, cutting across Snape, "I don't need you to tell me that. But Mulciber and Avery's idea of humour is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them."

Katherine doubted that Snape had ever heard the strictures on Mulciber and Avery. The moment she had insulted James Potter, his whole body had relaxed, and as they walked away there was a new spring in Snape's step.

And, Katherine mused, James had something in the way of his step – a root, which dragged him away from her and down to the ground when his shoe caught on it. The cloak went slack between them. James slipped out into the sunlight; blinding at the skirts of the dark cloak.

James' arms flew out to steady himself, "Bollocks…"

Katherine caught his hand, and pulled him back under the cloak.

Snape, it seemed, caught the word though.

"What was that?"

James' glanced down at their exposed shoes and swore.

"What was what?" came Lily's voice.

James slipped his arms around Katherine and pulled her against him, the cloak lengthening around their mangled forms and hiding their shoes.

"I thought…never mind…"

The sound of footsteps faded, but James Potter's breath in Katherine's ear was loud.

"You're quick." said James, peppermint swirling up through Katherine's nostrils.

Katherine smiled modestly, "It's my job to be."

James smiled, but then cleared his throat – extracting his arms from around Katherine.

With a tug, the cloak slipped over Katherine's head and pooled down from James' fist once more.

"You, er," James ruffled his hair and fixed his glasses that he looked at Katherine through, "Won't tell anyone about the cloak, will you?"

Katherine didn't need to debate it internally for a second.

"Of course not."

"Sirius was right," said James, frowning into the sun that Lily and Snape's silhouettes vanished into.

His glasses flashed, turning, and the sunset – trapped in his thought-filled eyes – stared back at her. Curiously, attentively.

"We should have let you know about the cloak earlier."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Consolation

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **beaniebun; I'm flattered you re-read the story! To address your reviews – I was beyond excited to get reactions as the story progressed – Regulus will have a redemption arc and that's all I can reveal without giving too much away; you're dead on with Giles' secret but he wasn't in love with Katherine's mum, his motivations will be completely laid bare in seventh year; and Katherine just** _ **might**_ **end up with who you think – it's where I'm leaning at the moment – as I think, in real life, they'd be highly compatible :)**

 **EviColt; I remember reading one of your reviews on one of the earlier chapters and I'm ecstatic to hear that you're still following the story! :)**

 **Just a heads up to everyone – this chapter has segments that follow the memory from the chapter 'Snape's Worst Memory' in Order of The Phoenix almost exactly because I am trying to not diverge** _ **too**_ **far from canon with this fanfiction. I am aware that large portions are not mine at all and it is not an attempt at plagiarism – just to keep the story close to the one we all know and love.**

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In the Great Hall, all four house tables were gone. Instead replaced with more than a hundred smaller tables, all facing the same way, at each of which sat a student, head bent low, scribbling on parchment. The only sound was the scratching of quills and the occasional rustle as somebody adjusted their parchment.

Sunshine was streaming in through the high windows on the bent heads of students, which shone chestnut and copper and gold in the bright light.

"Five more minutes!"

The voice made Katherine jump slightly in her chair, raising her eyes briefly to find Professor Flitwick's head moving between desks a short distance away. He was walking by a boy with untidy black hair. James.

James yawned hugely and rumpled his hair, making it even messier than it had been. Then, with a glance to Professor Flitwick, he turned in his seat and grinned at a boy sitting four seats behind him.

Sirius, who gave him a thumbs up, returned to lounging in his chair with ease. He was tilting it up on two legs again.

Katherine couldn't see Remus or Peter. But she didn't need to. Remus would be absorbed in his exam, re-reading his answers and scratching his chin with his quill. Peter would be anxious, chewing his nails and glancing at his neighbours' papers.

Having finished her own exam a few minutes ago, Katherine looked back to James, seeing him pull out a fresh piece of parchment to doodle on. She couldn't see the parchment, being five seats back and a row over.

"Quill's down please!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, "That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! _Accio_!"

Over a hundred rolls of parchment zoomed into the air and into Professor Flitwick's outstretched arms, knocking him backwards off his feet. Several people laughed. A few students at the front desks got up, took a hold of Professor Flitwick beneath the elbows and lifted him back onto his feet.

"Thank you… thank you," Professor Flitwick panted, "Very well, everybody, you're free to go!"

Katherine collected her things, watching her friends around her in her peripheral vision. Lily had been one of the students to help Flitwick at the front of the room, so Katherine walked to meet her halfway, walking past the boys.

"What did you think of it?" asked Lily, breathless as she swung her bag over her shoulder.

Katherine shrugged, "It wasn't as bad as I was expecting."

Marlene sidled up to them.

" _Not as bad_?" asked Marlene incredulously, throwing her hands up in the air dramatically, "It was _terrible_ , I forgot about the dilated pupils of the eyes for the five signs that identify a werewolf."

They passed James' seat, where he still remained. He had stuffed his quill into his bag, which he slung over his shoulder, and stood waiting for Sirius to join him.

Katherine went to check her bag for her wand and found it, but she felt the absence of her quill.

"Blast!" whispered Katherine furiously before looking up to her friends, "I forgot my quill."

Katherine stopped and glanced back at where she had sat for the exam.

Marlene shrugged, "We'll wait."

Lily bristled at being in such close proximity to James Potter – even after the discovery of his potion prowess.

Katherine turned to Marlene and smiled, shaking her head, "Go down the lake, I'll catch up."

"You're a saint, Spencer…" Katherine heard Lily mumble as she weaved back to her desk.

After retrieving her eagle-feathered quill, she stuffed it onto her bag and rushed back to the doors where the girls were joining the throng of students lingering in the Entrance Hall. Katherine had gotten stuck behind James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

Between them and the girls, was a group of loudly chattering Slytherin girls.

"Did you like question ten, Moony?" asked Sirius as they emerged into the Entrance Hall.

"Loved it," said Remus briskly, "Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question."

"D'you think that you managed to get all the signs?" asked James in mock concern.

"Think I did," said Remus seriously, as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors, eager to get out into the sunlit grounds.

The Slytherin girls let out an obnoxious burst of laughter, and Katherine didn't catch the end of Remus' reply to his friends. But they too were laughing by the time the Slytherin girls' squawks died down.

Peter was the only one who didn't.

"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes and the tufted tail," said Peter anxiously, "But I couldn't think what else –"

"How thick are you, Wormtail?" James asked impatiently, "You run round with a –"

"Keep your voice down." Remus implored his friends, looking around vigilantly.

"Katherine," Emmeline's voice pierced the air.

The girls had stopped halfway across the grass, squinting under the sun at Katherine who had been stuck behind the boys.

Emmeline went on, "Hurry up, we've only got a little bit of rest time before starting on the studying for Transfiguration tomorrow!"

Katherine picked up the pace, having pulled off her shoes and shed her robe which she carried in her hand as she ran past the Fifth Year boys to catch up with her friends.

"Well, I thought that the paper was a piece of cake," Katherine heard Sirius say as she passed, "I'll be surprised if I don't get an Outstanding on it at least."

Katherine resisted rolling her eyes, but couldn't resist a smile.

"Me too." said James, pulling out his golden snitch from his pocket.

The boys loped casually across the grass, slowly closing in on where Katherine and the other girls had rested on the edge of the lake, cooling their bare feet in the water.

Between glances back at the boys, Katherine saw that James had started playing with the snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot away before seizing it again. His reflexes _were_ excellent. And meanwhile, Peter watched on in awe. They all only stopped by the beech tree by the lake and threw themselves down on the grass.

Remus had pulled out a book and was reading.

Sirius was staring around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so.

James was still playing with the snitch. Letting it zoom further and further away, almost escaping but always grabbed at the last second.

Every time that James made a particularly difficult catch, Peter gasped and applauded.

James attention, however, strayed to where Katherine was seated by the lake. To where Lily was. But the boys' conversation was just out of reach for Katherine's ears.

* * *

James licked his lips, smiling at where the girls splashed each other, "I think that she's sweet on you."

Marlene waved at the boys cheerfully, Emmeline eyeing the waving hand with a resigned expression. Lily and Alice were the main partakers in the splashing while Katherine smiled from the middle of the scene; her hair gold beneath the summer sun and a beacon from the beech tree.

James returned the wave before his eyes flickered to Remus and Peter to ensure that he wasn't overheard.

Sirius sighed, glancing at the girls before returning his eyes to where students were milling over the lawns.

"She doesn't like me, she's not that stupid."

James caught the Snitch before speaking again.

"Never fear," James assured Sirius, laughing, "You just have to let her down easy."

Sirius blinked, turning to look at James.

"And how would I do that?" asked Sirius incredulously, looking back to the lawns.

"Drop hints about how you feel." James coached him, catching the Snitch again.

Sirius laughed bitterly as he watched a group of Fifth Year Ravenclaw boys throwing sparklers back and forth.

"That won't work."

James almost lost the Snitch but caught it last second, having to right his glasses before turning back to Sirius.

"Why not?" asked James, reluctant to let the Snitch go again.

Sirius squinted lightly at the Ravenclaw boys, hesitating.

"If I tell her how I feel she might get the impression that I… never mind…" Sirius trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What kind of impression would she get?" asked James.

Sirius laughed and he swatted away the question before his face creased in annoyance at the buzzing of the Snitch.

"Put that away, will you," Sirius finally said.

He cast a dark look at their blond friend before looking back to the lawns.

"Before Wormtail wets himself with excitement."

Peter turned slightly pink, but James grinned.

"If it bothers you…" James conceded loudly, stuffing the snitch back into his pocket.

"I'm bored," said Sirius loudly, "Wish it was the full moon."

"You might," said Remus darkly from behind his book, "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me. Here…"

Remus held out his book.

Sirius snorted, "I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all."

"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James, flicking his eyes to the lawns, "Look who it is…"

Sirius' head turned to where Snape was sitting. He became very still, like a dog that had scented a rabbit.

"Excellent," said Sirius, " _Snivellus_."

* * *

Katherine watched as Snape had gotten to his feet, stuffing away his O.W.L paper in his bag. As he left the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stood up. Remus and Peter had remained seated.

There was a tug of unease in the pit of Katherine's stomach. James had overheard enough with her under his cloak to incriminate Snape again in his eyes, despite whatever happened with Sirius and Remus that split the boys up for a week.

James and Sirius stalked Snape like prey, their strides long and silent, and their heads low and eyes calculating.

She reassured herself with the same words she'd imparted upon Sirius; _he deserved it_.

Snape had nearly killed her, nearly gotten four out of five fifth year Gryffindor boys expelled, and been fraudulently masquerading as a Potions prodigy on someone else's merit. The tormenting of Mary MacDonald – the use of the word, the slur, his supposed best friend was discriminated against with – lingered in the back of her thoughts, and threaded them all together into a resolve to let things unfold on the lawn.

Remus was still staring at his book, though his eyes had stopped moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows. Peter was looking from Sirius and James with a look of avid anticipation on his face.

"Alright, Snivellus?" said James loudly.

Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting the attack: dropping his bag, he plunged a hand inside his robes and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, ' _Expelliarmus!_ '

Snape's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

Katherine, though righteous, didn't share his amusement.

"Impedimenta!" said Sirius, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet halfway through a dive towards his own fallen wand.

Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had gotten to their feet and edged nearer. Some looked apprehensive. Others looked entertained.

Katherine closed her eyes and sighed, hitting Marlene's arm and nodding in their direction before pushing herself up.

Snape lay panting on the ground.

James and Sirius advanced on him, wands raised, James glancing over at the girls by the lake as he went.

Marlene continued the chain, nudging Alice.

Peter was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Remus to get a clearer view.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" asked James tauntingly.

Alice nudged Emmeline.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Sirius viciously, "There'll be great grease marks all over it – they won't be able to read a word."

Several people watching laughed, Peter sniggering shrilly.

Snape was trying to get up, but the Jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling as though bound by invisible ropes.

With the most dangerous job, Emmeline hesitated before nudging Lily and bending her neck to whisper in the red-head's ear.

Katherine was already up and walking over to the scene.

"You–wait!" Snape panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing, "You–wait!"

Katherine saw Sirius' eyes flit up. He paused for but a moment before he turned pointedly away and stood even taller by James' side.

"Wait for what?" asked Sirius coolly, "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

By the time the other girls had met Katherine, having stopped to pull their shoes on, Snape was letting out a stream of mixed swear words and hexes, but with his wand ten feet away nothing happened.

"Wash out your mouth," James admonished him coldly, " _Scourgify!_ "

Katherine immediately regretted bringing using the cleaning spell as a hex to notoriety after her altercation with Greengrass on the train.

Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once. The froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him –

"Leave him alone!"

James and Sirius looked around, James' hand immediately jumping to his hair.

"Alright, Evans?" greeted James, his tone suddenly more pleasant, deeper.

"Leave him alone," repeated Lily, "What's he done to you?"

"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "It's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…"

Many of the surrounding students laughed, Sirius and Peter included. But Remus, still intent on his book, didn't. Neither did the Fifth Year Gryffindor girls.

"You think you're funny," said Lily coldly, "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him _alone_."

Katherine felt a pang of indignity – for the boy who had taken two bludgers to the chest for her – for the boy who had helped her procure a broom – who had kept to the secret of her prophecy – who had offered her somewhere to go when she had nowhere.

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly in bargain, "Go on, go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

Behind him, Katherine could see the Impediment Jinx wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch towards his fallen wand, spitting out soap suds as he crawled.

Katherine gulped, closing her eyes as she fought to urge to grasp her wand. Snape had to ruin his friendship with Lily all on his own. But, Katherine realised, she could help Sirius and James' rapport with Lily. Well, not that she was very sure that they deserved it anymore. It was one of the most vicious attacks that she had ever seen the boys launch on Snape.

Turning away quietly, Katherine conjured her Patronus and whispered it a message, sending it off to Giles.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid." said Lily.

"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius briskly, turning back to Snape, "Oi!"

But it was too late, Snape had directed his wand straight at James. There was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James' face, splattering his robes with blood.

Katherine felt numb to her fingers – it was a variation of the curse he had used on her.

James whirled about and a second flash of light later Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of greying underpants. Many of the people in the small crowd cheered. Sirius, James, and Peter roared with laughter.

Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as thought she was going to smile, said, "Let him down!"

"Certainly." James agreed, jerking his wand upwards.

Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes, he quickly got to his feet, wand up.

But Sirius said, " _Petrificus Totalus!_ " and Snape keeled over again, rigid as a board.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" shouted Lily.

She had her own wand out now and James and Sirius eyed it warily.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you." James warned earnestly, truly disenchanted at the prospect.

"Take the curse off him, then!"

James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse.

Katherine also sighed deeply, closing her eyes. Yet again, it took everything in her to not produce her own wand and hex Snape.

But Giles was approaching, his tweed robes sweeping across the grass. A few students had disbanded from the crowd, not wanting to be guilty by association. But those at the centre of the conflict were oblivious to the Professor's approach.

"There you go," said James as Snape struggled to his feet, "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus –"

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

Lily blinked.

Katherine's heart left her chest – going out to her friend. _Maybe_ , Lily had said, _when she saw it for herself_.

"Fine," said Lily coolly, "I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, _Snivellus_."

Katherine knew, from the blank look in Lily's eyes, that it wasn't _maybe_ anymore. Lily believed Katherine.

"Apologise to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him.

"I don't want _you_ to make him apologise," shouted Lily, rounding on James, "You're as bad as he is."

"What?" James yelped, aghast, "I'd never call you a… a- you-know-what!"

"Mister Snape may not be apologising," said Giles loudly, fixing the boy with a pointed look and pursed lips, "But he _will_ be seeing his head of house for using such obscene slander on school grounds."

Lily, recognising that she wasn't in any kind of trouble, turned and hurried away. Katherine saw the tears on her cheeks before she went and ached to run after her, but she knew that Lily would want to be alone.

Regardless, the other girls ran after her.

But if Lily didn't want to be found. She wouldn't be.

"Evans!" James called after Lily, "Hey, Evans!"

Lily didn't look back.

McGonagall eyed Snape with distaste as he fell into step with her, her escorting him across the lawns to the castle where she would leave him to Slughorn to discipline.

Katherine was at a loss, standing by Remus instead. He still pretended to read.

"What's it with her?" said James, trying and failing to look as though it was a throwaway question of no real importance to him.

"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate." Sirius answered him distractedly, his eyes wandering.

* * *

It was at breakfast the next day that Lily resurfaced; McGonagall escorting her charge through the doors of the Great Hall with a hand on her back. At breakfast, it too came out that Snape had been stuck to the Quidditch Hoops overnight.

James and Sirius had only gave the barest of smiles around mouthfuls of their chosen breakfast foods. But it was enough. _Who else would have done it?_

By dinner, Lily had decided on leaving the disciplining of his friends to Remus.

Katherine stopped Lily with a hand on her shoulder before the red head left the common room for the dormitories after dinner.

"I thought you wanted them disciplined?"

Lily pursed her lips, tilting her head in concession, "To suit their crime."

Sirius snorted from behind them on the couch.

"If McGonagall knew…"

"If Professor McGonagall knew, she would also know that Snape got down almost immediately – as the boys had intended for him to do – after slipping off all of his clothes." said Lily quietly, inclining her head to not be overheard.

Katherine could only blink, "But…"

"And that someone else came along and used a permanent sticking charm that lasted until morning when Professor Flitwick was called upon," Lily almost smiled, and raised a hand in gentle wave as she turned, "Good night, Katherine, don't stay up too late."

After watching her friend until she disappeared up the stairs, Katherine sat down, feeling fuzzy between the ears, and blinked into the fire.

"I guess that summer couldn't have come at a better time." sighed Remus, pressing his fingertips to his forehead.

"James'll be in a right state the whole time," said Sirius, on his back and throwing a chess piece up before deftly catching it, "Now that Lily hates him for real."

"Nah, she doesn't." said Katherine.

"No?" asked Sirius, pushing himself up; his tie loose, and his shirt untucked.

Katherine pursed her lips, "Well, she hates Snape more if that's any consolation."

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Removing the Guard

 _Removing the guard:_ _A chess tactic where a chess piece is either captured or forced to move in order to eliminate the protection of an opponent's piece._

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 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

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The Fifth Years' remaining exams were interspersed with attempts by Snape to talk to Lily after the incident down by the Black Lake.

Lily, however, ensured that she was scarcely alone. She went to bathroom with at least one of the other Gryffindor girls, every class had nine other Gryffindors ready to be in between her and the Slytherin in the event that their schedules coincided, and she and Remus patrolled together whenever their prefect duty required it.

The night before the last exam of the school term, the stress and studying had drained Remus' weak constitution and he was admitted to the hospital wing for the night to guzzle some invigorating potions. Even then, Katherine volunteered to patrol with Lily, no matter how unorthodox and outside the rules it was.

"It's nearly midnight," said Lily, yawning and checking her watch as they strolled under the beams in the entrance hall, "If we split up we can make it back to the common room and manage to get six hours sleep before breakfast."

Katherine hesitated, despite longing to be sleeping inside the velvet hangings of her four poster, "Are you sure?"

"If you start from the courtyard and I start from the Great Hall, by the time we reach the common room we will have covered all our allotted spaces in half the time." said Lily, rubbing her bleary eyes with the inside of her index finger.

"Okay…"

Lily slowly vanished into the shadows of the Entrance Hall, and Katherine made her way towards her starting point in the courtyard. She couldn't fight feeling worse and worse the further apart the two girls went.

Katherine tried to talk herself out of worrying by reminding herself that not even a mouse had stirred on their patrols of the castle that evening. In an ironic twist, it was then that a rat scurried across the walkway of the courtyard and leapt through the grass, vanishing by the whomping willow.

Squinting against the darkness, barely broken by the light of the full moon, Katherine saw another mass by the violently twisting tree. Before she could figure out why it seemed familiar, it shot up the lawns – towards the courtyard, towards Katherine.

It was only as it stopped, paws to her feet, that Katherine saw the strange sight of grey eyes against black fur. It was the dog she had seen down by the lake on Valentine's Day.

"Oh, hello…" said Katherine, slowly holding out a hand.

The dog bowed his head, his ears pinning back.

"You remember me, huh?"

The dog lifted his head again from underneath her hand, and looked up at Katherine in answer. The fact that the dog was barely a puppy anymore was apparent in it's longer coat and legs.

Katherine reached out to scratch his chest, "Your hair's getting long –"

A howl from the forbidden forest cut her off and chilled her to her feet.

A wet nudge against her hand alerted her to the dog still at her side.

"I think I better go back inside the castle…" Katherine hesitated, unsure what to call the dog.

She crouched down and scratched beneath the dog's chin, trying to fight off the fear about the howl. _It was probably just the ghosts rumoured to haunt the shrieking shack_ , Katherine told herself.

"Before I go, I think you ought to have a name…" Katherine held the dog's head in both hands and stroked its cheeks with her thumbs, "You look like a _Snuffles_ to me."

With a small jump and a crisp chirpy bark, Snuffles trotted around Katherine and took off into the castle.

Katherine followed at a walk, curious to see just how well the dog seemed to know the castle. The memory of him chasing Mrs Norris drew a smile from her as she caught up to where he had stopped the base of the grand staircase.

Snuffles accompanied Katherine all the way up the moving staircases, the two only pausing on the seventh floor. Katherine was worried the dog might follow her all the way up to her dormitory and curl up in her bed. She wasn't sure McGonagall would be pleased at her adopting of a familiar unendorsed by the school.

Having taken the alternate route through the trophy room after hopping off the staircases at the fifth floor, Katherine caught the sight of two shadowed figures outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Snuffles ducked into an alcove Katherine had never seen before, deeper than any other she had been in – a statue of a stately witch at the back. Coming along the wall, Katherine was able to slip into the alcove as well before she was caught.

The gentle tap of Snuffles' nails against the stone floor alerted Katherine to him padding to the back of the alcove.

 _Katherine knew that she wouldn't be surprised if there was another secret passage behind the statue…_

"I'm sorry."

Snape's voice was unmistakeable as one of the two outside the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.

"I'm not interested."

Katherine felt guilt boil her stomach at Lily's voice. She had been caught alone.

"I'm sorry!"

"Save your breath."

Lily, intimidating in her nightgown, stood with her arms folded in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.

"I only came out here because Alice told me you were threatening to sleep here."

"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you a Mudblood, it just –"

"Slipped out?" There was no pity in Lily's voice. "It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I ever talk to you. You and your precious Death Eater friends – you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"

Snape opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking.

"I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."

"No – listen, I didn't mean –"

"– to call me a Mudblood? But you call _everyone_ of my birth a Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"

He struggled on the verge of speech.

With a contemptuous look, Lily turned and climbed back through the portrait hole.

"You think it would look too suspicious if he got attacked by a fire crab in the showers?"

The breath against the skin below her ear shocked her more than the words, and Katherine turned to look at the second person clouding up the alcove.

His face was cloaked in shadow, but it didn't matter.

Katherine would recognise that voice anywhere.

"Sirius!" the word from her lips was neither a reprimand nor a greeting.

Sirius' eyes caught a scarce flicker of firelight their way from the wall torch across the hallway, glittering down at her.

Something quivered up and down Katherine's sternum, and she realised that the ball was still, undeniably, in her court.

"What are you doing here?" asked Katherine, at a whisper.

Sirius tilted his head, his amused face angled down at hers, "I got a letter when I was eleven,"

His lips had barely closed around his last word when his eyes snapped up. He went very still, but then smiled, stepping back two steps.

"Watch it…he's coming this way…"

Snape had indeed finally turned around from the Fat Lady's portrait and was stomping down the staircase.

Katherine gracelessly stumbled back a step and held her breath.

Sirius didn't share her caution.

In her peripheral vision, Katherine was vaguely aware as he brazenly flicked his wrist free off his cuff, squinting down at his wrist watch.

Snape's shoe touched down on the piece of hallway directly outside their hiding place.

Katherine's eyes trained completely forward only to catch a stomach hollowing sight.

Snape's eyes had slid sideways and his shoes had halted.

 _She should have taken the second step back that Sirius had_ , thought Katherine bitterly.

Like magic, Katherine felt Sirius getting nearer, felt it like a pull in her stomach.

Snape squinted right at where Katherine hid in the quasi-darkness of the alcove.

Katherine's hand went out, as if to steady herself to dissolve into the darkness, and it caught another.

Sirius flinched beside her, but didn't pull his hand away.

Katherine's eyes stung and warmed through the rest of her face.

Relief, though, came in Snape shaking his head and resuming his path down the moving staircases.

"Are you alright?"

Katherine promptly let go of his hand and lied, "Fine,"

Clearing his throat from the single squeaky syllable she had managed, Katherine turned to the only person left out so late and realised how strange it was that he was alone.

"Where's James?"

"Why – fancy him?" Sirius' face was devoid of any emotion.

Katherine felt small, her eyes barely at his chin. And then she felt the creeping heat of mortification around her throat.

With a breath and a quirk of his lips, Sirius nodded towards the staircase.

"He's in bed,"

Sirius inclined his head down to her with an appraising look, "Which is where both of us should be as well," he stepped away and made a motion with his hand dangling at his side, "Come on."

Katherine didn't hesitate to follow.

Conversation seemed to have been left behind in the alcove for they didn't speak up the staircase to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Sirius gave the password quietly, they had stepped through and then promptly stalled in the common room.

Katherine tucked her hair behind her ears and bowed her head, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, my –" Sirius stopped, pressed his lips together and abruptly left her.

* * *

Despite his absence that night, James Potter filled Katherine's every morning following.

He sent charmed gifts to Lily at breakfast, without fail, each increasingly more ridiculously than the last. They only stopped the day Lily opened a box concealing a replica model of the Quidditch pitch made out of newt spleens – complete with Snape strapped to the goal post.

That was the day Lily started smiling again.

With a bite of his apple, smiling around his chews, James cleared the Hall with his friends to go down to Hogsmeade for the last trip after their exams.

Katherine, having proudly handed over her signed permission slip to McGonagall before breakfast, caught up with the reason why that was so on the walk down to the village.

"I signed your slip so that you could spend more time with your friends." said Giles with a sideways smile.

Katherine watched Lily skip arm in arm with Alice past her and Giles.

"Not so I could partake in underage drinking by buttering up Rosmerta for the 'good stuff'?" said Katherine jokingly.

Giles gently snorted, "You've been hanging around Potter and Black too much."

The boys in question went around them, ripping up grass and smacking each other over the head with it in an attempt to deposit it down the backs of each other's shirts.

"What a brilliant day!" said Peter, trailing behind, face turned sky wards.

A pale Remus, fresh from the hospital wing, smiled on, " _Even_ with those blockheads."

Laughing with Sirius, James backtracked and threw an arm around Remus' shoulders, "I hope we stay like this forever!"

Katherine couldn't help but find James Potter's enthusiasm contagious, and laughed.

Surprisingly, Giles did too.

They were all just your average, fun-starved teenagers fresh from exams, dragging along a few reluctant Professors.

They could not have possibly known that one of them would not make it home.

"Miss Evans is back to her vivacious self today." said Giles, watching ahead.

Katherine felt her mood drop a little, "Even though I didn't like him, I can't bring myself to be glad at how her friendship with Snape ended…"

"Who you choose to be around you lets you know who you are," said Giles, blinking and watching ahead, "She was nothing like Mister Snape.

Katherine frowned, "You don't let anyone be around you."

Giles' lips pulled up wryly.

"I did once,"

The words struck Katherine's strangely, right up inside her ribcage.

Giles gave a sideways smile and a tilt of his head.

"Don't look at me like that, Katherine." His tone was light.

Katherine blinked.

"Like what?"

Giles sighed, and spared Katherine a sideways glance, "Like you're realising I've had a harder life than I've let on."

"I… I guess life is complicated – especially these last few decades." said Katherine, at a loss and knowing she came across unintelligible.

It didn't bother her. She knew that Giles knew what she was attempting – to salve any wound she may have imparted on his ego.

She knew through his earthy gaze – warm like soil under the sun – and how it crumbled over her face.

"Life is simple," said Giles, looking away to some far away corner of the sunbathed township, "You make choices and you don't look back."

"The last table in the three broomsticks is ours!"

Katherine looked up and found Marlene trying to squeeze through the doorway to the mentioned pub. She was blocked by Frank Longbottom and Peter Pettigrew who were doing the same.

Giles bowed his head and stepped onwards, "I think I'll be going now."

"Yeah, as a collective, we did better on our exams." said Alice from the two groups of Gryffindor Fifth years looking on.

James furrowed his eyebrows, "The results aren't even out yet."

Emmeline's chin lifted as she surveyed the boys coolly, "Some things just go without saying."

"But not without hurting." said James lightly, a hand over his heart.

"I think I'll go to Dogweed and Deathcap to replace those fairy wings I borrowed from Slughorn while this plays out…" said Lily through a laugh, turning and bouncing off down the high street.

Alice nodded, her eyes wandering down the row of shops, "I think I might get a trim and a fringe – something new for the summer…"

Emmeline sighed and muttered beneath her breath as she turned.

"I could use some new quills…"

Marlene was scandalised, gaping after the splitting group, "Guys!"

Sirius stepped forward, "How about this…I'll buy you whatever you want from Honeydukes if we have that last table until lunch – and then you girls can have it?"

"Alright," Marlene sighed, dragged herself from the doorway, and looked to Katherine, "Are you going to help spend Sirius' gold, Katherine?"

Sirius' eyes lifted, his eyebrows and lips too.

Katherine shook her head, "I'm going to check out Tomes and Scrolls for some reading material over the summer."

"Suit yourself." said Marlene, shaking her head and linking arms with Sirius to drag him across the high street to the sweet shop.

His friends had streamed through the door to the pub to enjoy the spoils of their friend's bargain.

An amused sort of pity bubbled up inside Katherine for Sirius on the walk to the book shop.

It was only as she walked in the shop and saw a calendar hanging by the register that Katherine realised that it was the Sunday Professor Brown had spoken of. ' _Constantly sneezing on a Saturday means that you will meet the love of your life Sunday next_ ' she had said. And Katherine had made a mental note to not leave the dormitory.

But Katherine didn't put much stock in it, unless one of the two other patrons in the bookshop were it, the superstition was more likely just an old wives tale. It seemed even more likely when Katherine looked closer at one of the men in the corner by the books on Alchemy and saw that he looked suspiciously like a hag; not even completely human.

Katherine trailed down the aisles of the shop, her neck becoming increasingly sore from reading the titles on the top shelves to see if any struck her fancy.

It was at dusk when she saw his eyes across the room.

The other man – the non-hag – nearly made her trip over her own boots when she finally looked away from the books for the first time since entering the shop.

He had already been looking.

Tangled up in her imagination, they had nearly spent a lifetime together by the time he said –

"Hello,"

He was taller than any boy she knew; his limbs lithe. His black clothes were the same shade as his black hair; parted impeccably, a slight curl to the short length. It all only served to make his dark green eyes her centre of focus.

He flashed a most charismatic smile.

It was a wonder how anyone could resist.

"How are you?" He asked, inclining his head gently.

There was a slight raise in his eyebrows; _he expected an answer_ , thought Katherine.

Katherine swallowed, pulling down the book she had at her fingertips in an attempt at casualness.

"I could be worse."

His small lips pulled away to reveal a dizzying grin and he tapped her arm in playful reprehension for her cheeky response.

"Well, my name is Tom," He raised his eyebrows daringly, "You see, that is usually how these exchanges go."

Katherine smiled down at her book, clutching it to her chest.

"I'm Katherine," said Katherine, offering him a playfully suspicious sideways glance, "And I'm, er, underage – just so you know."

Tom laughed lightly, leaning gracefully against the bookshelf.

"How old do you think I am?" asked Tom, his eyelids halving the green on display as he looked down at her conspiratorially.

Katherine used his question as an excuse to look closer at him. She found, much to her abdomen's fluttery notice, that his face was delicate in all of its strength in structure.

"Perhaps your late twenties?"

Katherine's eyes lingering on his line-free face and clean-shaven cheeks and jaw, his bobbing Adam's apple in his throat…

His eyebrows raised again.

"Close." said Tom, smiling into her eyes, unabashed.

His eyes caressed her face with their stare.

"Are you trying to flirt with me?"

His straight white teeth gleamed, "Is it working?"

Katherine frowned, leaning back and taking him in again. He hadn't given her a last name. He was definitely older than student age. And she wasn't as attractive as he claimed her to be.

"Not quite." said Katherine primly, with effort to pull herself out of his field of attraction.

Tom smiled, standing straight once more – and at a more proper distance.

"Don't worry," said Tom brightly, "That's just 'Plan A'."

Trepidation swirled in her fingertips, "What's 'Plan B'?"

Tom's green eyes glinted. He stood perfectly still.

"To take you hostage."

"What did you say that your last name was again?" asked Katherine, twisting the fabric of her shirt arm to ensure her wand was there.

" _First think of the person who lives in disguise, who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies_ ," he whispered, advancing toward her, " _Next, tell me, what's always the last thing to mend, the middle of middle and end of the end?_ "

Katherine frowned up at him, working quickly to piece together the… _riddle_. She let her wand drop down out of her sleeve and into her hand.

Tom watched it, smiling. His eyes fixed her with a menacing but amused glint.

" _And finally give me the sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word_ ," he went on, backing Katherine to the window at the front of the shop, the keeper noticeably absent, " _Now string them together, and answer me this,_ "

Katherine's eyes darted to the door handle just to her right, centimetres from her fingertips. Anyone would be able to look into the shop and see them against the window. But in the event that no one was coming to save her, she needed to find her own way out.

Tom planted his hands on the glass above Katherine's head, leaning down and only stopping when his was a hair's width from hers.

" _Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?_ "

At dusk, death came to her in the form of a man.

"You're Tom Riddle." whispered Katherine.

"It's a spider, actually," said Tom – _Voldemort_ – lightly, "But…yes."

Katherine inched towards the handle, gripping it in her fingertips. She just needed to distract him enough to slip out without him grabbing her.

"But… but, you're not this young…"

Voldemort raised his eyebrows.

"Glamour charm," said Voldemort.

The aforementioned charm faded slowly to reveal waxy skin and red-glinting eyes. He still didn't look any older than his mid-thirties.

"The horcruxes also help."

Katherine grappled for an out, "Can I ask you something?"

Voldemort sighed but nodded once, amused despite it all.

"How does it feel?" asked Katherine, wrapping her fist around her wand.

Voldemort faltered.

"How does what feel?"

Katherine wound back her arm the best that she could and punched him in the jaw.

Voldemort stumbled back and clutched at his chin.

Katherine cried out, ripped open the door, and threw herself and her aching knuckles into the now brisk afternoon summer air.

Tagging on to the back of a strolling group of younger Ravenclaws she didn't recognise, Katherine went in a strange walk verging on a run. Her anxiety was barely reigned in and was making her shoulders twitch.

She knew he was behind her somewhere and couldn't resist a glance over her shoulder.

Voldemort stood in the open doorway, pulling at his gloves finger by finger.

"Alright, run, then!"

The lack of a recognisable human emotion beneath his brow unsettled her.

"I'll give you a head start!"

Katherine's grip on her wand tightened. She turned and ran harder, her legs feeling hot and clumsy beneath her.

The Ravenclaws now between she and a calmly loping Voldemort, Katherine fought to put more distance between them.

The twinge at the base of her spine urged her on and on, past the statue in the square, past Honeydukes.

Laughter tickled at the anxiety quivering up and down her spine, and it was then that she spotted the Fifth Year Gryffindor boys walking out of The Three Broomsticks; the source of it.

"Spencer!" said James cheerfully.

Pushing his glasses up his nose, his eyes looked her over from behind his frames. He frowned.

"What's wrong?"

It was then that the sound of numerous people apparating silenced the village's chatter, silver Death Eater masks glinting in the afternoon light.

Screams erupted from students and elderly wizarding patrons alike.

Katherine turned back to the boys, noting that their wands had already slipped into their hands. She pushed them in the direction of the castle.

"Run!" the words escaped Katherine at a scream, "It's _him_! Get everyone out of here!"

The boys fought her pushing, stumbling against her.

Sirius looked around with wild eyes before they fell on Katherine, "What about you?"

Katherine tried to breathe as she looked around desperately.

"I'll lead him into the forest." she decided, turning to do just that.

Sirius caught her arm, "No way!"

Katherine shook his hand off.

"We have no choice!"

" _Go! Run! I'll hold him off!_ " She pushed him one last time in the direction of the castle before turning.

"Wait!"

Katherine was whirled back around with a hand around her wrist.

Sirius' chest was warm against Katherine's, radiating through both his shirt and her own. It seemed that they were both having the same diaphragmatic attack.

So close to him, her nose at his jaw, she was overcome with the smell of soap, and the syrupy scent of Butterbeer tumbling from his mouth; parted and expelling pants.

She couldn't bring herself to fall onto him the way she would have liked – to let him pull her away and up to the castle with James, Remus, and Peter and the rest of the scrambling students.

"Katherine Spencer!" a booming voice taunted.

In his, and everyone else's distraction, Katherine wrenched her arm from Sirius' burning grip and stumbled to the caller of her name.

Everyone had paused as Voldemort swept into the town square. Those who hadn't apparated out or ran back to the castle watched on, transfixed, as Katherine stood; trying not to shake as Tom closed in on her.

Both had their wands at the ready.

Voldemort grinned darkly.

"I must say," he reached up to his jaw and moved it experimentally, "I expected more than a cheap shot to the face."

" _Crucio!_ "

Katherine made to dive behind the fountain, but the curse seized her. Pain ripped swiftly through her entire body. Flames licked at her veins – fissures appeared in every single muscle in her body. She thought she might have ruptured from the inside out.

A scream ripped out of her chest, uninhibited. Her eyes were wet – her mouth dry.

Black spots eclipsed her vision.

On the edges of black, Katherine made out a few familiar things.

Lily's trembling wand raised…James grappled at a black mass attempting to rocket forward onto the scene…Marlene's hat fell from white, clawing hands…The veins in Sirius' neck rippled violently…

Arms and legs possessed by the curse; Katherine commanded her eyes to Voldemort. He wasn't edged in black, but rather the encroaching crowd.

Katherine saw a few things in swift succession in the reluctant crowd; Frank stepping in front of Alice…Fabian spreading himself wide across some third year Slytherins…

Katherine felt a heavy duty sit inside her rolling stomach. _She had to get him away from them_. Her purpose triumphed over her pain with one screaming throw of her body in the direction of the fountain.

It was enough.

The spell relinquished its hold, snapping back to Voldemort's wand like a rubber band. Katherine sucked in breaths; untainted with pain, and cried all the way up onto her elbows.

Through bleary eyes, she saw only the forest separating the town from the school.

Voldemort cackled, "Your hero hides!"

Katherine clenched her eyes closed.

"Tell me, Katherine Spencer," the sound of his shoes crunching in the snow accompanied his words, "How many people are you going to let die for you?"

Katherine's eyes wrenched open as his footsteps continued. Anxiety pulsed in her chest.

"Your precious parents...your Aunt and Uncle…"

Indignity flared through her limbs – hotter than her anxiety. The emotion brought her curse-tired limbs back to life. Katherine sprung to her feet, her wand in her hand and a spell on the tip of her tongue.

" _Expelliarmus!_ "

Voldemort slashed his wand through the air, and the red jet of light bounced harmlessly off it. He narrowed his eyes condescendingly.

"You _weak_ , pitiful girl!" Voldemort raised his wand again, higher, to her, "You'll die like your squib relatives – defenceless –"

From the onlooking crowd a mass of tweed and brown curls glided to a stop between Voldemort and Katherine.

Katherine almost cried out in relief. With Giles _she was safe_.

Voldemort's eyes flashed with momentary surprise, "Lucky!"

Giles turned his head at the name – like he'd been struck.

Katherine's cheeks buzzed with confusion and trepidation.

"How nice of you to join us!" said Voldemort, and spread his arms open.

Katherine was too struck, like Giles, but by the lack of animosity in Voldemort's voice.

His profile to her, Katherine watched something heavy thread through Giles' cheeks and jaw.

He didn't raise his eyes.

Voldemort, however, raised an arm; making a summoning motion with his hand, "By all means, move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me."

Voldemort seemed to notice the wand in Giles' hand at the same time as Katherine.

Katherine wasn't so sure that she felt protected by the thought of the man with a wand in close proximity to herself anymore…

" _Oh_ , I _see_ …" said Voldemort with a cold laugh, "You've grown to _love_ the girl!"

Giles' eyes shot to Katherine, wide – _alarmed_ , and almost…pleading.

Katherine realised at once that Giles hadn't been a werewolf – but a double agent, as a _Death Eater._

"How… _touching_ …"

Despite the disparaging tone, Katherine felt something akin to hot barbed wire being dragged through her heart. It was the sweetest burn she had ever known.

"Bad news," Voldemort levelled his wand with Giles, "Love can't save you."

Another burn was lit behind Katherine's eyes.

"No!" the word burst forth from Katherine along with a cauldron of panic.

Giles caught Katherine around the middle mid-spring. She had tried to jump in front of him – to take the curse for him.

He pushed her behind himself, and faced Voldemort; his wand in one of the arms he spread to cover Katherine. His gaze crumbled over her once more, over his shoulder. There was a flicker of fear on the outskirts of the warmth she found there.

" _I've hidden the prophecy at the place where geraniums grow,_ " Giles' whispered words were cryptic to Katherine's ears, "You've –"

"Avada Kedavra!"

* * *

The blinding green flash faded away from the makeshift village arena.

His ears rang and something clawed at his throat.

Where Giles had stood laid only mud and grief.

The legends of those before them had never mentioned the mud and blood and tears. The stories that his parents told him never seemed quite real.

Sapped of strength and bravery, Katherine Spencer seemed to swirl away from the scene despite remaining strewn across her Professor.

A thick, heady silence blanketed the village.

The chosen one, they called her.

The chosen one; the one with hair as golden as the chalice of victory they hoped she would hoist.

The chosen one; the sound of a cacophony of spells breaking the sky open on the battlefield.

The chosen one; the battlefield where the bodies fell.

Legends, he now knew, were slippery little things. The glory – the _gold_ – that coated them hid the pain and suffering and death that spun them. For he saw a legend with his own eyes, and he saw a legend become a wound.

He knew he would remember – if nothing else – that it hurt, looking at her hurt.

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: The Ties that Bind

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 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **I really did intend to publish this chapter and the last one together (I didn't want to be the writer that left things on cliff hangers) but the wait between the chapter 23 and chapter 24 was long enough already in my opinion, so I published chapter 24 as soon as I finished it. What I wasn't expecting was even longer wait between chapter 24 and chapter 25. Life gets in the way, I'm afraid.**

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 **Ai Star; Uh Oh indeed!**

 **beaniebun; Sorry for the drastic escalation in action – but I kind of planned it that way, to lull everyone in a false sense of security. I have always enjoyed when my favourite authors ripped the rug out from underneath me.**

 **InfinityMars; Not too much, I hope? There's only one more chapter of the gang's fifth year before I go into the summer and their sixth year so I kind of wanted to tie up some loose ends and give the plot a nudge ahead. It didn't seemed rushed, did it? I'd love your feedback! :)**

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She screamed. She cried. She halfway hoped that he would hear her – that the sound of her needing him would wrench open his eyes.

She did not care that everyone was watching, she snotted and shook at her body's mercy. The weight of the world was on her shoulders, and the weight of her mentor was in her arms.

Giles heavy shoulders no longer held any protection. His lips didn't offer any more wisdom or a hard-earned smile. He looked less real than a doll. And yet Katherine couldn't fathom ever putting him down, his clothes were still warm.

A cry from the crowd ripped Katherine from her own rumination.

Voldemort watched, head tilted, with something akin to sympathy. But it was twisted with contempt. His wand hung patiently at his side, dangerously so. The green that had emanated from its tip felt as if it covered her – marking her for death, marking her as its next victim.

 _She had to get away_ , she was the only one that had a semblance of a hint as to where Giles had hidden the prophecy. She only had moments before Voldemort would round on her again, so, still violently twitching, she let Giles' shoulders slip down her thighs to rest at her knees.

With a shaking hand on Giles cheek for the first time, death breaking down the barrier of propriety, Katherine stumbled to her feet and in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

Gasps erupted from the crowd as she got away, albeit uncoordinatedly in her pained state. But she went fast, just trying to not fall down.

Without looking back, Katherine knew that Voldemort was following.

An unnatural roar made her look back just as she sprinted into the tree line. Voldemort's silhouette was completely black against a line of fire that he had cast along the line of the Forest – the trees like torches.

No one was getting in or out until he took it down.

Katherine turned back to watch where she was going, vaulting over large exposed tree roots and dodging branches.

The sound of a great _WHOOSH_ of wind in the distance prompted Katherine to turn back. The impenetrable flames had parted. A blur of red hair was illuminated by the flickering flames.

"Lily!" a voice shouted, "No!"

Before the gap disappeared, another body penetrated the barrier. And then another.

Dodging branches and clearing fallen trees and large roots, the three gained on Katherine and Voldemort.

Stumbling into a clearing, further into the forest than Katherine had ever gone before, Katherine's legs suddenly locked together. She barely had time to put her hands out, to stop her face from meeting an exposed root. Still, she landed hard.

" _Crucio!_ "

Katherine convulsed onto her side. Vomit rose hot and quick; unable to be stopped, Katherine's breakfast spilled onto the forest floor. Tears mingled with the vomit on her chin, her skin too warm to inhabit any longer.

She looked up. The pulsing of grief in her ears unbalanced her, even as she lay clutching cold dirt and roots.

Voldemort shifted side to side as if on tilting earth.

Katherine's eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her head.

She felt, even in her disorientation, that the centre of Voldemort's attention was a very dangerous place to be. His green eyes held more darkness than Katherine had ever seen in any brown pair.

"I've _heard_ so much about you," said Voldemort, slowing stepping toward her, "But nothing prepared me for _seeing_ you for the first time in twelve years…"

Katherine eyed the distance between them warily.

He suddenly smiled.

"I'm not as bad as everyone says, you know?"

"You killed my parents," she said it as briskly as the reminder ricocheted through her brain, "You're a murderer, Tom."

"Name calling," said Voldemort, tilting his head, "So fearsome."

Katherine tried and failed to push herself up, her words coming out as shaky as her arms, "I'm sixteen, I'm not trying to be fearsome."

Voldemort paused, eyeing her.

"It need not be this way," Voldemort crouched beside her, his eyes creasing in feigned care, "I can make everything better."

He flourished his wand harmlessly in the vague direction of Hogsmeade.

"This arising war is a tragic waste of magical blood," Voldemort sighed, "But it is necessary to prove that I am right."

Katherine sniffed, turning her nose up and away in a way that she hoped would make Greengrass look warm and inviting. She let indignity overcome her whilst under his murderous gaze, she was at least going to deserve the killing curse on the tip of his tongue.

Voldemort became deathly still, his eyes narrowing at her briefly.

"You look very much like your mother."

The words, much to Katherine's regret, lit a well of gratification in her chest. She smothered it with the reminder that the man was the one to have murdered her mother. She gritted her teeth and turned back to him defiantly, uncaring of the triumphant glint in his eyes.

"You don't know a _thing_ about my parents!" her voice wobbled more than anticipated.

Voldemort's smile slowly faded as he observed her where she heaved in angry breaths.

 _Neither did she_ , he could have argued.

But he didn't.

Voldemort went still, his eyes sliding to watch his right periphery. His wand was raised not a second later, the corners of his lips too.

"I'm going to have to stop you right there." said Voldemort, a wispy white barrier springing up around him and Katherine.

Lily, James, and Sirius were illuminated in the light of the spell; all red hair, glasses, and rippling neck. The barrier rippled as they tested it with their own wands, but it didn't weaken.

"I woke up this morning,"

Voldemort paced along the cylinder of light separating he and Katherine from her friends, before he stopped in front of the three Hogwarts students, his gaze cool.

"…thinking of a public execution…" Voldemort turned back to Katherine, grim faced, and raised his wand, "But I will settle for this."

The determination… the capable steadiness of his hand… he could kill her – _would_ kill her. And she wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.

"No! Not Katherine!" Lily sprung forward, colliding with the barrier and thumping her hands wildly, " _Please!_ "

Her words, however feeble and pleading, made Voldemort pause, at least.

James and Sirius held steadfast either side of Lily; wands raised and brows stern.

Voldemort took a turn of direction due to it, though, that made Katherine long to stare down the length of his wand again – he crouched beside her, green eyes to green eyes, and they shared breaths.

"Inspiring loyalty with the effectiveness that only beauty can harness…" Voldemort trailed his wand down Katherine's cheek, his eyes blazing a trail behind it.

She couldn't suppress a shiver.

Voldemort pursed his lips, eyes glazed.

"I will admit, I had forgotten the power of it."

Two shadows towered together in her periphery, "What's that nutter saying?"

"Felix Giles pretended to steal the prophecy for me from under the nose of the order of the phoenix," Voldemort's voice was suddenly vicious and hissing, "I know that _they_ do not have it,"

Voldemort leant back on his haunches and smiled cruelly down at Katherine.

"But I am sure that your mother and father's friend could not have _helped_ letting _something_ slip to you," Voldemort stood, towering over Katherine once more, "I'll give you one chance to tell me what you know."

 _The prophecy_ , Katherine remembered, _Dumbledore had said it was in the Department of Mysteries under guard_. _The article in the prophet about something going missing_ , realised Katherine, _was about the prophecy!_

Katherine made up her mind as she stared down the length of Voldemort's wand, "I don't know anything."

Voldemort's eyes crinkled and his jaw ticked.

"That's an understatement,"

He flicked his wrist, "Avada –"

Katherine's arms crossed in front of her face, a reaction she couldn't control any more than the spell leaving Voldemort's wand.

Or so she thought.

Her hands somehow found Voldemort's shins through his robes, and then there was a scream.

This time, it wasn't hers.

A wand dropped onto the leaf litter in front of Katherine, and then Voldemort followed. His robes had been burnt away. Below his knee his legs had turned to coals; his flesh crumbled and burnt.

Looking from her hands to the disintegrating Dark Lord, Katherine realised that he hadn't touched her at all that day. Recognising the power her touch seemed to have over the writhing wizard, Katherine pressed them against his chest.

Voldemort's eyes bulged and a hiss broke through his teeth.

Katherine moved her hands; one to his neck and the other to his forehead.

A cry from the wizard reverberated through Katherine's fingertips, and she hesitated.

The damage, however, was done. Voldemort's eyes glistened, his mouth frozen open and expelling smoke. He had gone still.

For a second, Katherine had her hands upon another body that day. This one, though, burned. It burned until it collapsed to ash in front of her.

Four were left, one still crouched.

Katherine wiped her ashy hands on her stocking covered knees, "You shouldn't have come after me."

Sirius stepped forward, lifted a hand, as if to rest on her shoulder, but then hesitated.

"I – we couldn't just sit there while you were in danger." said Sirius, his hand falling back to his side.

James ruffled his hair, turning and squinting back through the blackened trees and smouldering roots, "We should go back."

'What for?' rolled around Katherine's tongue, but didn't escape. Giles was dead. Exams were done. The train would arrive to take them all home in only a few days, and Katherine had nowhere to go. She didn't dare say the words in the face of the three people who risked their lives to save hers. _How could she tell them it was all for nought?_

On the walk back, an untold heaviness sat inside her.

Marlene replaced James and Sirius, without a word, when they reached Hogsmeade once more. Worry and exasperation clear on her face, the girl still blocked the crowded scene in the town square.

Katherine still saw the tweed robes flapping where they were gathered on the ground.

The three girls walked in continued silence up to and through the castle.

Katherine heard the curiosity in their steps, a half-second slower than hers, even if they didn't ask where they were blindly following their friend to.

The three only stopped when they had trespassed through the dark arts classroom to Giles' office and personal chambers.

"I've got to find it," said Katherine, unable to meet their eyes, "The prophecy."

Lily and Marlene exchanged a look.

"If Dumbledore couldn't find it, what hope do a couple of kids have?" asked Marlene, lifting and lowering her hands in an exasperated motion, "And what would you do with it?"

Katherine shrugged, her eyes having anchored on a photograph on Giles desk – too far away from her to make anything out of it.

"Destroy it," said Katherine, and then she spoke so quietly she wasn't sure if she wanted to be heard, "No one else is going to die for me."

"You don't even know where it is!" said Lily, stepping forward and trying to catch Katherine's eyes and hands.

Katherine shook off Lily's hands and turned to survey Giles' desk, "He must have hidden it somewhere with meaning to him…"

Lily's chest heaved more slowly, and then one last time in a sigh; her teeth catching her bottom lip and the desk catching her eyes.

"Look around his desk," said Lily, striding across the room to the mentioned piece of furniture, gingerly lifting a piece of parchment, "He has to stare at it for hours on end a day..."

"I love snooping as much as the next girl," said Marlene, slowly by the desk and eyeing it, "But it's not as if he's going to write down an address."

Katherine, out of selfish curiosity, picked up the photograph first. Only to find her parents, Giles, and Rory Hawthorne, the Deputy Head Auror, smiling up at her from outside a heartstring tugging house.

With shaking hands, the back of the frame popped out and there was familiar cursive on the back. ' _Number 7 Geranium Lane_ '. Though it wasn't Giles' writing as Katherine had come to know it from the blackboard.

Katherine showed the photograph, both sides, to Lily and Marlene.

Lily's lips twisted with wry resign, her neck twisting so that she could blink at her curly-haired friend.

"You were saying?" asked Lily.

Marlene looked as if she had many a thing to say.

Katherine, however, was beating down the pulsing feeling in her neck with a gulp.

Her voice still cracked, however, when she put down the photograph and said, "Let's go."

"Katherine, no – wait!" Lily's oxfords tapped after Katherine, "It might not be safe."

"Nothing's safe anymore! He's _dead_ , Lily!"

Katherine and Lily stared at each other, wide-eyed. Neither had expected it, even Katherine, and she was the one to erupt.

"He's dead –" The repetition, the affirmation, wobbled Katherine's voice and lowered her head, "–and it's my fault…"

"Katherine…" Lily's voice was honey-soft, and her hand around Katherine's was just as so, "It… it's not…"

"I see it in your eyes – you know it's true," Katherine shook her head, and gripped Lily's hand back tighter, "This whole year… all the danger you've been put in…it wouldn't have happened without me,"

Katherine let go of Lily's hand, it slack in the owner's shock.

"Stay if you like, I'm going." said Katherine, turning to the green glowing fireplace and fumbling around for the floo powder.

Marlene's stubby fingers reached into pot of green powder alongside Katherine's, "Not without me, you're not."

"Or me," Lily stepped forward, smiling valiantly, "Don't look so shocked, we're your _friends_ , Katherine."

Her face cracked, alongside her heart, something warm oozing out it and through the room.

Linking arms, the three girls threw their floo powder into the grate.

"Number Seven Geranium Lane!"

* * *

The sound of a crackling fireplace licked at Katherine's ears. Looking around she saw that, although abandoned, the house had been perfectly preserved inside.

"This is where it happened…" said Marlene as she twirled around with a slack mouth.

The firelight barely skimmed the surface of her truffle gaze; black in the scarce light.

Lily hadn't moved from beside Katherine, the flames still licking at the back of their robes.

Katherine didn't know if she too felt weighed by the ghost of the event that led to Katherine's roundabout return to the house.

"This is where –"

"He killed them." said Katherine, something heavy on her chest; choking her words on their escape into the air her parents once breathed.

She turned back to the mantle where a handful of photographs were framed.

There was one of her parents on their wedding day. They were swaying slightly as they stood arm in arm, smiling at the camera and then at one another.

With a start, Katherine thought that she was looking at a slightly older version of herself once more. She and her mother seemed within centimetres of each other in height. Their faces were both oval, with the same nose. The same slender hands. The same elbows. But there were glaring mistakes.

Katherine looked around at the living room the woman in the photograph had painstakingly organised and tended to and ached at the thought of leaving it so soon.

A ' _Transfiguration Today_ ' magazine was open on an end table, right where it had been left all of those years ago. The broom by the fireplace had a polishing kit open beside it, abandoned mid-thought. There were dishes in the dish rack, two mugs and a sippy cup.

Katherine half expected her parents to run down the stairs and inform her that it had all been a terrible mistake; that they were alive. But they wouldn't.

 _That was the horrible thing about death_ , Katherine mused, _it was so very quick… and so very permanent._

"What's a prophecy look like, you reckon?" asked Marlene squinting into cabinets and along bookshelves.

Lily shrugged, careful not to even graze along any furniture, "Orb-like, faintly glowing –"

Marlene had stopped by a cabinet.

"Whispering?"

Lily nodded, turning around, "Yeah, how'd you –"

Marlene pointed inside a glass cabinet.

"If this isn't it, I'll lick my cauldron clean."

Among a tastefully organised row of childhood mementos from the short four years she spent with her parents, was an orb; faintly glowing, whispering, and swirling with promise.

Lily swatted Marlene's hand from the air as it reached for the cabinet's handle, "Maybe…maybe Katherine should take it, in case it reacts if someone it's not about touches it."

Katherine gulped, but pulled the handle, the glass glinting as it swung open.

"How do I read it?" asked Katherine, tentatively moving a lock of her baby hair aside along with a mould of her hand and foot prints.

"I assume it would just…give off some recorded message or something at your touch…" Lily trailed off, shrugging.

"How do you know about this stuff?" asked Marlene, turning to Lily with a frown.

Lily smiled, blinking once, "I _read_."

Katherine took a breath to steel herself, and reached in.

"Okay…here goes –"

A raspy-voiced Professor Brown promptly filled her mind and ears as soon as her fingers clutched the orb.

"… _the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born when the sun burns in Aquarius ... A Tuesday will bring forth a girl with power the Dark Lord knows not ... And he will meet his_ _match_ _…"_

Katherine hadn't pondered what would happen upon hearing her fate. A reignited purpose. Enlightenment, perhaps. Fainting, however, wasn't even in the realm of possibility. But it robbed her of consciousness, her magical core pulsing at the words ebbed around the edges of her increasingly blurry vision.

She could hear Lily and Marlene's exclamations of shock, and felt hands beneath her instead of the floor, but the words of her prophecy circled her mind like a drain.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: The Chosen One

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **beaniebun; the connotations of 'his match' will be explored fully throughout the story. The scene with Katherine and Voldemort was what stumped me for almost a month, so I'm glad you liked it!**

 **InfinityMars; It is like it was with Harry and Lily – but a paternal sort of love.**

* * *

Opening her eyes was the only thing that alerted Katherine to not having been conscious.

She only relaxed when she recognised the sheets of the hospital wing below her. Her hands twitched as she gripped the sheets in gladness, and she closed her eyes once again; safe.

There was a long time when Katherine didn't hear anything but the distant chatter from the hallway outside the closed double doors.

"Mister Black and Mister Potter," said Pomfrey, disdain colouring her voice, "What have you two done to yourselves this time?"

Katherine felt the familiar prickling of her skin as she was looked at.

Some more time passed. Katherine wasn't sure how much.

"If I punch myself in the face, and it hurts," Katherine heard James' voice, "Does that make me strong or weak?"

A sigh sounded, Katherine recognising it anywhere. Imagining the bored and patronizing expression on his face, Katherine almost woke up to actually see it.

"It makes you stupid." said Sirius inanely.

But Katherine couldn't bring herself to open her eyes.

"You two are free to go," said Pomfrey primly, a long time later, "And might I advise coming with chocolates next time? Not black eyes."

Katherine wasn't sure how long time passed like that for.

Her muscles slowly stiffened with an anxiety to _know_ , so she opened her eyes, and pushed herself up against her pillows.

As if by magic, Dumbledore swept through the doors of the Hospital Wing. His eyes twinkled upon seeing Katherine up.

"Katherine," said Dumbledore softly, "I am very sorry that we failed to keep you safe."

Katherine gulped, nodding to the Head Master, "The prophecy…"

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore's pale blue eyes blinked solemnly, "What was the exact wording, if you please?"

Katherine took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

The crackle of the fireplace filled her ears once more… the mingling scents of geraniums and broom polish circled her nostrils…she remembered the floor she fell upon, cushioned by Lily and Marlene's arms, and the words that had circled her brain.

"… _the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born when the sun burns in Aquarius ... A Tuesday will bring forth a girl with power the Dark Lord knows not ... And he will meet his match…"_

After a beat of silence, Katherine opened her eyes, concerned the Headmaster may have fled.

Dumbledore, however, had just steepled his fingers together and stared out the window, "I see…"

Katherine was full to the bone with frustration. _She couldn't see what he saw._

"There's no doubt that it meant for _me_ then..." said Katherine, trying to coax his thoughts out into the open.

Dumbledore nodded and eyed her in agreement.

"Yes, I thought so too," he said softly, "And it's still in effect as Voldemort… is still alive."

A chasm opened up in her chest, robbed of her justice, "But I…"

"His soul escaped, you only burned down his body." said Dumbledore matter-of-factly.

"How is that even possible…?"

A shadow fell across the Headmaster's face, his lips taught, "Dark magic."

"It doesn't say that we have to kill each other," Katherine realised, "Just that if I wanted to, I could defeat him."

"That is true," said Dumbledore lightly, blinking, "But if you have the power to vanquish him, it would be senseless to not do so – to stop the suffering of the wizarding world at the hands of tyrant."

Something heavy settled on Katherine's chest, and she had to glance down to check that she didn't have devil snare clenching tighter and tighter around her beneath her clothes.

"Is everyone okay?" the words were automatic out of her mouth, and so was the first person she wanted to ask for, "Giles –"

"Felix Giles' sacrifice was a tragic loss,"

Katherine's face and legs buzzed, goosebumps breaking through her skin.

Dumbledore bowed his head, let his fingers unsteeple and his hands land on the window sill beside Katherine's bed. He frowned out on the grounds the window faced – he frowned out on the forbidden forest.

"But he knew what he was doing," Dumbledore looked back at Katherine, over his shoulder, "It triggered old magic…in casting himself in front of you, he imparted a sort of protection upon you."

"It wasn't dark magic, was it?" asked Katherine, glancing down at the intruments that made Voldemort's quasi-defeat possible, "Why else would my hands have… have…"

"No, Katherine," said Dumbledore swiftly and softly, " _That_ wasn't dark magic,"

Dumbledore's hand fell from the window sill and he turned, pacing to the end of her bed.

"It was the one avenue of magic that Tom had never cared to pursue and therefore was woefully defenceless against,"

Dumbledore stopped and smiled.

"Love."

The word and Giles didn't connect in Katherine's brain.

"But Giles…"

"You're the only person named in his Will," said Dumbledore, frowning at the floor, "Being the very prepared man that he was, he left you memories, among other things, to be received when you come of age,"

Dumbledore looked up, back at Katherine, with a genial expression.

"I believe that it will explain his fondness of you."

There was a sense of finality in his tone. His eyes didn't twinkle.

Katherine cleared her throat, and the previous subject from the air, "Has the Prophet skewed the whole thing yet?"

Dumbledore's wispy white eyebrows shot up his forehead, and the corners of his lips too raised.

"What happened between you and Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest was a complete secret," He lowered his chin, gazing at Katherine over his half-moon spectacles, "So, naturally, rumours – far more fantastical than truth – have sprung up in place of the truth,"

Katherine didn't know what to say, and just watched as Dumbledore glanced at the double doors leading to the rest of the school.

"I will retire to my office to contact a few people who ought to know of your well-being," Dumbledore announced, turning a kind eye on Katherine once more, "But for now, Katherine, you should get some rest."

Dumbledore turned to go.

Katherine's mind turned onto a new curiosity – a new worry.

"Professor – where am I to go this summer?"

Dumbledore halted, his shoulders still to her.

She wasn't sure if she imagine the sigh.

"You see, Katherine," Dumbledore turned around, "I must admit that I have kept something from you this past term,"

He didn't lift his eyes, only his eyebrows.

"You're Aunt, she's alive and rather healthy."

The screams of the night Giles had brought her across the threshold from the non-magical world to the magical one were sharp through Katherine's ears.

 _She'd seen her Aunt drop…_

 _But_ , mused Katherine, _lots of spells had similar colours – and she hadn't heard the incantation…_

Katherine winced in realisation, "Will I be going back to Claremont this summer, Professor?"

"I'm afraid so."

Katherine nodded.

"Does she hate me?"

"Your Aunt?" Dumbledore's eyes lifted for the first time since he turned back around, "No, she never has."

Katherine fought off a scowl, " _Could have fooled me…_ "

"But she has chosen to be obliviated after you reach seventeen and are legal – in our world, at least – to leave home."

"Obliviated?" The word was thick on her tongue, and Katherine choked out her next words, "Of everything?"

"Everything," said Dumbledore with grave nod.

Dumbledore opened his mouth and closed it before persevering.

"I must say I encouraged it… to help preserve the Statue of Secrecy… but, if you had lost everything – would you not want to forget?"

Incredulity settled like a lead weight in Katherine's jaw.

"Some of us don't get that choice," said Katherine, her tongue working easily with the ice on it, " _Professor_."

"Oh, I've offended you," said Dumbledore, lowering his senile, twinkling eyes, "I'm sorry, Katherine,"

Katherine chose to not respond, unsure that she could trust her tongue to be polite.

"I won't keep you any longer from enjoying the end of year feast," said Dumbledore, "I'm sure you're anxious to see your friends,"

Katherine nodded, feeling the knot of anticipation in her stomach tighten.

Dumbledore went to turn, "Do try the pork roast."

After stopping by the dormitory to wash her person and rectify her fuzzy teeth, Katherine walked down to the great hall.

The last time she had seen Lily and Marlene, she had passed out in her parents' house. _She wondered if she could ever return to the house…_

"Katherine!"

Katherine blinked, realising her feet had carried her to her usual spot at Gryffindor table.

Lily beamed up at her.

"We weren't sure you would be coming, take a seat." said Lily, ushering her to a seat beside.

' _We'_ consisted of all of the fifth year Gryffindors.

Sirius and Marlene argued over the last piece of bread to her left.

"What do you need it for? You're done!"

"To mop up the sauce! Haven't you ever eaten in Italia?"

"Sod off, Black, you rich bastard!"

Alice and Frank laughed about something escaping Katherine on her right.

Remus and Emmeline discussed something quietly on the fringes of their friends.

Peter snickered at Marlene and Sirius.

It was... just like the start of term. But with a few key differences…

Katherine managed a wry smile at Lily, "A bunch of third years accosted me outside the hospital wing, asking for rendition of my heroic victory,"

James was directly across from them and was looking, not at Lily, but at Katherine.

"I would have been here sooner but I had to stop to accept the cheers of the entire audience."

* * *

She had her hair loose again, he noticed.

He brushed the bread crumbs from his fingers but couldn't brush a strumming tenderness out of his heart.

She almost wasn't going to be able to sit there with them ever again. A year had passed, and yet he couldn't imagine his life without her in it.

 _Now that he knew she existed_ , he mused, _how could he not love her?_

He knew he couldn't stay away any longer. But she wasn't quite ready for him to take her into his arms – like he wanted to whenever he saw her eyes flicker up to the empty chair at the head table; Giles' chair. They would turn back, a little hollower each time.

* * *

The walk to the train the following morning was dampened by the city of ash that was the forest. Katherine couldn't help but wonder if it would ever be the same. _In twenty years' time, would they still be tarnished for the first years arriving?_

She did the mathematics and thought that the nineties seemed very far away. The students would be the children of the students attending Hogwarts at that _very_ moment. It was a strange thought. Their world as they knew it was so very _theirs_. It wrenched something from Katherine's stomach at the thought of _children_ having to go through the same things that they all had done…

The train itself was the same. This time, however, Katherine entered it without Giles.

The younger years were either running around like the firecrackers buzzing down the hallway, or were morose at the thought of leaving Hogwarts.

Katherine empathised with the latter.

"Feel strange to be going home, Katherine?" asked Lily, dusting her hands on her dress and sitting down on a seat.

"Very," said Katherine, in the understatement of her life.

She used the action of pushing her trunk up on the overhead rack as an excuse to not meet her friends' eyes.

"It's going to be hard to let my wand gather dust for the summer."

It was going to be hard to know that she could have – _should have_ – been going home with Giles. To learn about her parents. To be with someone who she felt she belonged with.

"Well, you'll have us to owl." said Lily lightly, poking a finger inside her owl's cage.

The thought pulled through her heart like a wisp of hope, "It would be nice to have a reminder that this past term _actually_ happened."

 _On the off chance that the crushing weight on her chest wouldn't_ , she thought bitterly.

"I can't believe we've managed without you for so long, Katherine," said Marlene, lifting her legs up and stretching across a whole seat, wiggling her toes, "I've never had so much fun."

"Fun?" Lily repeated, aghast.

" _Fun?_ " Katherine and Marlene mocked her with identical grins.

"I wonder what it will be like next year – without Voldemort…" said Katherine, after a moment's silence.

She couldn't bring herself to tell her friends that their efforts had all been for naught – that Voldemort was still alive out there, weaker than a ghost. The odds of him returning before they finished Hogwarts were slim to none.

Lily artfully towed with her hair and hummed while she looked out the window, avoiding answering.

"A piece of cake." said Marlene with a snort.

Lily snapped back to her vivacious self, "Said like a girl without a care in the world about N.E.W.T's."

"We take them in seventh year, that's ages away."

"Ages away…" Lily muttered under her breath with a host of incredulous facial expressions.

One of those facial expressions, was Giles' favourite. An impressed sort of exasperation.

The numbness returned to Katherine's chest, and she cleared her throat – as if to clear it away – and to catch her friends' attention.

"I'm going to go change into my muggle clothes." said Katherine, keeping her eyes low as she gripped the handle of her smaller carry bag filled with a change of clothes and her purse.

She heard shrill tones start up behind her as she left, even from behind the closed compartment doors.

While she changed in the girls' bathroom, Katherine wondered how Lily and Marlene had gotten on before she arrived to Hogwarts…

She was zipping up her favourite black boots while leaning against the wall outside the bathroom when she heard angry whispers.

"An unbreakable vow… I had my suspicions…"

Katherine edged towards the voices until she was forced to halt at the sight of two dark shadows towering together outside the boys' toilet. Gauging the secrecy of the interaction, she stepped back into an empty compartment and only poked her head out enough to squint stealthily.

The sight was both so natural and jarring, all at once.

Sirius held Regulus at the elbow with one hand, the other pushing up his heavy black velvet sleeve.

"The marks will fade."

Regulus snatched his sleeve down and his arm away, "Great."

Sirius' sleeve, meanwhile, cuffed Regulus over the head lightly.

"It's a miracle that what you did didn't get you killed."

Regulus righted his hair and glanced around, refusing to meet Sirius' eyes, "I'm a right diviner of them alright..."

"Don't give me that, Reg," said Sirius, quietly, " _I know_."

Regulus gulped, his eyes snapping to his older brother.

"You do?"

Sirius sighed, and his lips twitched.

"I'm your brother," Sirius cleared his throat, "No matter what they say."

Regulus' eyebrows pulsed.

"That _does_ quite contradict what they've been saying…"

Regulus' roving eyes forced Katherine to step back into the empty compartment completely to avoid being caught eavesdropping. She didn't dare risk a disillusionment charm in case the underage magic traces on the train weren't masked by Hogwarts.

Regulus' sigh was loud and long for a fifteen year old boy.

"I've got to go talk to Malfoy, to make sure this year's efforts for the captaincy weren't in vain."

"If he's a git about it, tell him I'll –"

"You'll what?" asked Regulus, his voice sharp with amusement.

"What I've always done," said Sirius, "Protect my little brother."

"Protect yourself," said Regulus promptly, "You'll need to now more than ever – if you're smart..."

"I've got enough stupid for the both of us, remember?"

"Maybe…maybe not,"

There was a heavy pause.

"See you next year…Sirius."

Footsteps began to sound.

"See you next year, Reg."

The footsteps paused, but then re-commenced; faster.

Katherine waited until Regulus' footsteps faded, and Sirius' sigh too, before she moved out from the compartment and flattened her hair.

"You alright there, Katherine?"

A lightning bolt might have hit her spine instead of the words hitting her ears.

She jolted around, and found Sirius; arms crossed and one shoulder leaning against the window.

Katherine thought of a lie, a challenge while staring down the gunmetal grey of his eyes.

"Yes, quite alright – I just passed the trolley lady and got –"

"I didn't mean it that way," Sirius smiled slowly, nodding in her direction, "James is worried, you know?"

"Just a little insomnia," said Katherine, shrugging, "But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."

Sirius tilted his head and pushed off the window, "If anyone can, it's the chosen one."

His legs lazily crossed the distance to her.

Katherine's heart thumped in her ears, but it couldn't triumph over the insecurity he had touched on with two simple words.

"What if I don't want to be the chosen one?"

Sirius' hand twitched at his side, and his eyes focused uncomfortably on her own. They glinted, almost pleadingly, as he lowered his face to hers.

"I don't want to be this good looking and athletic, but we all have our crosses to bear." he said, with a little, gentle smile.

The tenderness was in stark contrast to the way he had been with his little brother not moments before.

Katherine felt herself unfold in front of him, all of her worries leaking out of her pores.

One disturbing thought penetrated her mind without her permission. _She wanted to be held_.

"I'm not…I'm not like, like a chosen one should be…" she stumbled through the words, but couldn't stop herself.

Sirius frowned, "What does a chosen one look like?"

Katherine laughed.

"I think they imagined that I might be taller than 5 foot 5," she shrugged, blinking, "Perhaps a glow?"

Sirius snickered, turning away to watch the Scottish countryside blur by.

"I didn't imagine a glow."

A glowing red heat was lit behind Katherine's cheeks.

"You imagined me?"

Sirius shrugged and turned back to her, "I think everyone did."

"Were freckles and the small remainder of my baby fat on my cheeks part of your version of me?" asked Katherine, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, yeah," said Sirius sarcastically, "I imagined a cherub."

A beat of amusement passes between them, as well as a glance with no name for it.

Katherine looked at Sirius, closer than ever before. It astounded her how close she was compared to when she first noticed him properly; passing down the very hallway they stood in, completely unaware of each other or the year they were about to have.

"I never thought that you'd be the person to cheer me up."

Sirius' temple twitched, and his hand swept through his hair.

"People will think it's weird if we're friends," said Sirius, watching two first years run past.

Katherine blinked, ice spreading through her chest.

Sirius turned back, and smiled.

"They think I'm a _knob_ , Katherine," said Sirius, and then waved his hands and eyes up and down her frame, "And that you're some angelic, dark-lord-slaying saviour."

"And a knob and an angelic dark-lord-slaying saviour can't be friends?" asked Katherine, bracingly mirthful.

 _Maybe this was him telling her the nicest way he knew how that he didn't want to be her friend…_

Sirius offered a show of white teeth and dimples, closing his eyes. When he opened them, they were glittering like glass. He went to open his mouth –

James' laughter and Peter's wheezing burst out of the open doors of a compartment at the end of the train.

Sirius sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "I should probably return to my compartment before someone comes looking for me."

He didn't move away.

Katherine tried to smile, "Have fun."

Sirius smiled at the carpet running along the train, and turned.

"Be miserable without me," he said, with glittering eyes.

Katherine watched him prowl away until he reached for the door of his shared compartment before turning to set off back to her own.

"Spencer!"

Katherine turned back, still embarrassingly close to where he had left her.

Sirius had paused, his hand on the handle of his compartment door.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, a furrow in his brow and curve in his lips.

"I'll survive," said Katherine, walking backwards and grinning despite everything, "Somehow I always do."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**

 **I have made a profile on Instagram just for this story where I can post sneak peaks and updates if a chapter is going to drop or might be late. You can check it out, it's ur.g** **url __writes_ I have so much already completed but I have to work up to and would like to share snippets with you all so the wait doesn't seem so long between chapters :) **


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: The Precipice

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **beaniebun; You've caught me out with the bread crumbs haha! And with the last moment I was aiming for a sweet reprieve from all that had transpired – so I'm glad you thought it was (and it was also to show a little character development for my favourite HP character.)**

 **Aamarylis; Thank you so much for your review! It's always a pleasant surprise when people are genuinely interested in the story as it is an OC centric piece. I hope to hear more of your thoughts on the story on future chapters! :)**

* * *

The Black family's chateau on the French Riviera had never been less relaxing than on the day of Narcissa Black's wedding to Lucius Malfoy.

Shrieks and yelling regularly burst forth from the closed doors of Narcissa's suite in the South wing of the summer home; locked away in preparation with her mother Druella, and her sister, Bellatrix.

Regulus kept a wide berth of the south section of the home on his urgent quest to the most North Tower, palms sweating in his pockets. One palm was around a potion phial that would ensure questions were Regulus to be caught with it. It would be most unfortunate for him to lose possession of it after losing a whole month of his summer brewing it.

"It's ready?"

The woman left the shadows of the family's Owlery, her broom abandoned by the arch she flew in through. She looked unnervingly like the owner of the some of the yelling emanating from Narcissa's suite. As she moved nearer though, he noticed the marker of light hair and wider, kinder eyes that separated Andromeda Tonks from her elder sister.

Regulus lifted the phial to catch the light and gave it a light shake, "I got the strand of hair this morning from our unknowingly generous donor."

Andromeda stepped closer, eyes scanning Regulus and stairs behind him.

"You sure it's the right one?"

"Don't you trust me?"

Andromeda's lips came together.

Regulus smiled and returned his empty hand to his pocket.

"It's okay, I know Sirius was your favourite."

For a moment, Regulus wondered if the creeping pang of amused resentment was how Sirius had always felt about _him_.

Andromeda frowned, turning her eyes to the summer-sun-bathed piece of France on show for the Black family whenever they so choose to visit.

"No. I liked you both equally as much," she said quietly, turning back to Regulus with an imploring glint in her eyes; _older_ than Regulus remembered, "One can only stomach so much rejection though before they spend their energy where it is appreciated."

Regulus was rendered speechless with shame for only the beat of a moment.

"Here," he said, holding out the phial of potion.

Andromeda accepted it, uncorked it, and promptly threw it back.

"How's Nymphadora?"

Andromeda's eyes closed in a heavily lidded blink as she pushed away her twisting lips at the rancid taste of the potion.

Regulus felt a pang of longing for his older brother's quips and light-hearted presence on such a day at the sight.

"You should come visit." said Andromeda imperiously, much like the rest of the women in the Black family. Charming in all their steel nerve.

Regulus nodded slowly, averting his eyes in case he caved and committed to a time – most likely sooner rather than later if Andromeda had her way.

"I will…one day…" he said, lips twisting wryly and involuntarily at a mental image, "I cannot have her thinking Sirius is the standard for how a Black should behave…"

Andromeda's laugh was fresh like spring and as soft as satin.

Regulus had forgotten the sound.

"She preferred Potter when they came to visit the other week," said Andromeda, sighing away her laughter as her eyes shuttered from Regulus in a memory he wasn't privy to, "Had her playing Aurors and Dark Wizards for _hours..._ "

Regulus couldn't help the rumble of laughter in his chest or his eyebrows' inclination to lift.

"A Black? An Auror?"

Andromeda blinked in concession, before smiling distantly, "Sirius will pave the way for her, surely…"

Regulus's mind galloped ahead of his propriety – of his obligation to his family's collective loathing of the most recently discarded member.

"So he's really going to do it? Be an Auror?" Regulus mentally cursed himself for sounding so young and interested – so _wistful_.

Andromeda looked through Regulus with an annoyingly perceptive twitch of her lips, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Regulus' lips pursed, as if to hide away his excited speech that betrayed him, and his brows lowered – if only to hide away his traitorous eyes.

"It's too risky…until we're back at school anyway…"

It was his saving grace that it was then that Andromeda's features began running away from her face, replaced with lighter hair, more pointed features, and far more lines than was natural for the young mother.

Feeling the change, Andromeda unsheathed her wand and conjured a mirror.

"Blonde, _lovely_ ," said Andromeda, banishing the mirror between she and Regulus, "So who am I?"

"Lucius' eldest Aunt, Marguerite Malfoy." said Regulus easily.

"Married to?"

Regulus smiled, "Her Kneazles."

"Got it," said Andromeda with a knowing smile, "Anything else I need to know?"

"She is known for being a witch of few words and many offered, but politely refused, caramels."

Regulus dug into his pocket until his fingers closed around a pleated velvet bag with a ribbon for a drawstring.

Andromeda accepted the bag with a dainty wrinkled hand and eyed Regulus with foreign pale eyes.

Regulus thought that it was her that still shined through the new pair of eyes. The way she used the muscles of the face were uniquely her to anyone who knew her.

"You really have thought of everything."

Regulus hesitated, and then spoke with more emotion than he intended, surprising himself, "I don't… I don't want you to be caught out."

Andromeda offered a bracing smile, seemingly more for herself than Regulus.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Neither Black could have prophesized that in the kerfuffle of seating for the ceremony, that the disowned of the two would be confronted with her mother, father, and older sister.

"Marguerite, do you need help to your seat?" asked Bellatrix, her curls tamed into a chignon at the base of her neck. Combined with her polite words, she was almost as unrecognisable as her poly juiced sister.

Regulus panicked as Andromeda just blinked back at Bellatrix.

"Caramel, deary?" said Andromeda finally, forcing her voice through her nose.

Her wide eyes, from her shock, passed as the startle of a senile old lady in an overwhelming environment.

Regulus stepped forward, "I think I saw her seat card by Great Aunt Cassiopeia, I'll be happy to escort you, Marguerite."

Bellatrix's face relaxed into something Regulus hadn't seen since they were young. A smile.

"Be sure to kiss your Aunt, Regulus."

Regulus waited until he had turned away with Andromeda' newly frail arm tucked into his before he let his lips twist into a scowl.

Andromeda's voice came through Marguerite's lined lips, "I'd forgotten about how she used to imperio you and Sirius…"

"If anyone deserved to go blind…" muttered Regulus as they closed in on his relative that was as stationary and as heavily beaded as a lamp shade.

Andromeda flashed Regulus a wicked grin before plastering her best impression of a senile old lady back on features still unfamiliar to her.

"Caramel?" said Andromeda, seeming to enjoy her act.

Cassiopeia whirled around a stared unseeingly past the heads of Andromeda and Regulus.

"Oh, yes please, darling."

Shocked from the acceptance, Andromeda hurried to produce a sticky square from her velvet bag as fast as Marguerite's body would allow.

Regulus' eyes wandered in search of his own seat, homing in on the familiar heads of his parents closer to the front. The space between his mother's glossy bun and Cygnus' thinning but exceptionally combed hair was undoubtedly reserved for Regulus. He found it was strange for the seat beside his father to not be filled by Sirius but by one of their grandfathers, Pollux.

"Regulus, my chivalrous escort, doesn't that place card have your name on it?"

Regulus was startled by his name, and cleared his throat and his mind as he squinted at the gold plaque and the wriggling black script.

It didn't, but Regulus and Andromeda both knew that.

"I'm afraid that without the spectacles you left at home you are mistaken," said Regulus, amused at the tactic, "That card says 'Reginald'."

But the damage was done.

Cassiopeia's neck twisted and her eyes found Regulus with frightening accuracy, for a blind woman.

"Regulus, come here and greet your Aunt properly." She grinned with open arms, lace-gloved hands grabbing at air.

Rigid with reluctance, Regulus lowered himself into her grasp without the use of the Imperious curse. Tradition and respect were almost just as powerful.

For the second time that day, Regulus found himself thinking of his brother. Were he there, Regulus knew that Sirius would skillfully conjure a manner of things for their Great Aunt to kiss. One year a fish when their parents hadn't been looking.

"Forget Ronald –"

"–Reginald–"

"–You can sit wherever you like, you're a Black."

Andromeda's gaze was suddenly misty as it locked on something in front of them.

Regulus turned to find that, at the front of the marquee, Narcissa had emerged from the side to meet Lucius in the middle at the arch.

Andromeda was one Black who was far from where she wanted to be sitting.

Regulus sat beside Andromeda in recognition of the pit of grief opening up on her face and offered a handkerchief.

When she returned it at the end of the ceremony, it was too damp to put in his pocket.

The reception lowered Regulus' mood to Andromeda's during the wedding.

Sirius wasn't there to sneak them firewhiskey, or convince the band to play a Hobgoblins song, or to spell people's shoe laces together beneath the tables.

"Oh, cheer up, won't you?"

Regulus blinked, and found that it was his Great Aunt that had spoken.

"I beg your pardon, Aunt Cassie?"

"You've always fallen prey to moods, my boy, and they extend beyond the visible realm – I can smell it – taste it," Cassiopeia wrinkled her nose, "It's stifling."

Regulus hummed and went back to perusing the room disinterestedly.

"Weddings do it to me," said Regulus, his eyes falling upon a group of Malfoy's guests whispering and pulling up their sleeves in corners, "Frivolous things."

Cassiopeia wasn't done with him yet, it seemed, "But there's something new about you…"

"I have undertaken great duty recently." said Regulus, each word niggling at his newly unblemished forearm.

"Regulus! Aunt Cassiopeia! And…"

Narcissa had approached the table in her rounds for the afternoon reception with practiced charm, but hesitated – unsure of the third person at the table.

"Marguerite Malfoy," said Regulus, with a significant look between the two sisters, "I brought her in earlier."

"Lucius' Aunt, _of course_ ," said Narcissa with a plum-painted smile, "Would you like me to take you over to your other sisters?"

Andromeda let Marguerite's face lapse into the depths of some sort of anguish, "I would like to be with my sisters, _yes_ ,"

Narcissa held out a hand to help what – to her – seemed to be an older lady.

Andromeda took it, perhaps too quickly.

"Would you be able to show me to a bathroom first, deary?" asked Andromeda.

The glint in her eye seemed to only be noticed by Regulus.

After spending nearly two hours in the bathroom, when the girls returned Narcissa deposited Marguerite back with Regulus as opposed to with the other Malfoys. The tears on their cheeks meant that Regulus had accomplished all he had set out to do a month ago.

"So," said Andromeda, clearing her throat and smiling, gesturing around at the marquee, "You're next."

Regulus scowled into his drink, "There's too much risk in loving."

There was an explosion of laughter from the other end of the marquee, and the white dress of the bride was at the centre of it.

"No," said Andromeda, with the faintest of smiles, "There's too much risk in not."

Her smile was so very Andromeda that Regulus forgot she was Marguerite. And then he realised that it was because her features were battling through against Marguerites – and that the Polyjuice was wearing off.

Regulus leant forward, laying a hand on an arm that was getter fuller and fuller of healthy muscle, "An –"

"I know," said Andromeda, with a smile at her hands that were already completely her own.

She stood as the lined skin of Marguerite evaporated from her face.

Regulus also stood, taking a wary scan of the marquee.

Andromeda righted her newly returned brown hair and the mischievous glint in her eyes was back in full force.

" _Bonsoir_ , Aunt Cassie." said Andromeda, leaning in and pressing a kiss to both cheeks of the matriarch.

Cassiopeia didn't bat a blind lid.

" _Bonsoir_ , Romy." Cassiopeia returned, the nickname rolling effortlessly off the tongue – a knee jerk reaction.

Andromeda's hand lingered on her Great Aunt's beaded sleeve before she swept away, back in the direction of the chateau.

Regulus loped at the witch's heels all the way back to the north tower, squinting into the blistering afternoon sun.

Wordlessly they passed Rodolphus, Bellatrix's husband, locked in a passionate embrace along the chateau's outside wall with a blonde Veela from the Malfoy clan.

The hallways along their walk were dotted with whispering pairs.

Witch and Wizard…Wizard and Wizard…Witch and Witch. Wizard, Witch, and Wizard…

Sweet nothings fell from the lips of some. Spells from others.

Andromeda didn't spare a sideways glance, and continued on the familiar path – it had not been erased from her mind like her face had been from the tapestry at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

The two were passing the bedrooms in the south wing on the uppermost level when a dropped fan startled Regulus from the path his feet carried him on mindlessly.

Narcissa's long blonde hair swished behind her as a head of golden hair tugged her into the suite she had spent the morning preparing in. Turning over his shoulder, Gideon's grinning face was visibly but a moment before he, and then Narcissa, disappeared behind closed doors.

"Take care, Regulus." said Andromeda upon reaching the Owlery.

And to his surprise, she leant in and wrapped her arms around Regulus for the very first time.

She was still soft around the middle from childbirth, and her arms were stronger from the picking up and carrying of her daughter.

He couldn't manage a word in response.

Andromeda didn't wait for one. She hovered her broom out of the stone arch and hopped numbly out the window, flying off into the peach sky.

Regulus stood for a while, watching as she shrunk to a black dot on the horizon.

On his walk back, the chill of night seeping into the castle walls, Regulus noticed a grouping in the side hallway that sparked his interest more than the scandalous romantic pairings.

Lucius, Griselda Greengrass, Lucius' father, and Bellatrix were in the exchange of – not kisses or heavy petting – but a _book_.

Slowing by the corner, Regulus held his breath.

"– with you back to Hogwarts."

Regulus' ear seemed to unfurl at the mention of the school, unadulterated curiosity bubbling through his limbs.

"I don't understand – how does it work?" came Greengrass' voice.

Bellatrix's response was like the crack of a whip, "You don't need to know how it works."

"Just know that…if we play our cards right…" said Lucius diplomatically, "The dark lord will return…"

The words chilled him to his feet.

The closing remarks – a mention of 'Katherine Spencer' and something else barely made it through his ringing ears.

However, the sound of the feet of the group hastening back up the hallway, towards where he was eavesdropping, sent Regulus whirling into the shadows of an alcove.

A few people flashed through his mind as he waited for the hallway to clear, but only one name fell from his lips.

"Kreacher."

* * *

"Can we get a smile from the bride and groom – for Witch Weekly?"

Narcissa felt the tug of an icy hand on hers, and fell against a sharp hip and stiff clothing. She looked around instead of at the man she had been tied to in front of dozens of their closest family and friends.

Bellatrix was twirling around the dancefloor with their father, tears in her eyes.

Rodolphus watched on, his robes ruffled and his drink drained.

Her mother was holed up at a table with Walburga, casting a pair of judgmental eyes over the soiree and passing words between each other before sniggering or scowling.

Regulus was darkening a corner with a wilting pastry in hand, eyes set on something beyond the marquee – beyond the night.

Everyone was well dressed, and everyone was a mess.

Silver chalice in hand, Narcissa turned to the flash of the camera. A smile at the camera was sincere – she was going to be the envy of every witch opening the magazine the next day. The smile at the icicle of a man beside her was harder.

At the last moment, however, her eyes caught on a head of golden hair behind Lucius. Gideon was watching on, a bittersweet, lop-sided smile wrapping around her heart like a life-preserver.

The happiness of their earlier rendezvous leeched through her smile and was immortalised in a puff of smoke.

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 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: The Potters

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 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **Aamarylis; When I started writing this fanfiction I knew I wanted to delve into Narcissa a lot more – so I'm thrilled you are enjoying her arc! The Black family happen to kind of just be at the centre of everything I've realised! Writing Andromeda was scary for me as she doesn't appear much in the original Harry Potter series and I was worried people would think I portrayed her as being too soft considering all she lost because of her family's views. Thank you for your review! :)**

* * *

"Oh, _blasted blue beetles…_ "

Fleamont snatched up his wife's magazine to fan away the fumes from his bubbling cauldron.

Euphemia gasped and snatched back the glossy pages, " _Fleamont_ , I was reading that!"

"I thought you were stirring for me?" said Fleamont as he waved his wands wildly to stop the fumes travelling across the room to the two teenage boys at the kitchen table.

James; his head buried in a notebook he was furiously scribbling in, and Sirius; leisurely scanning the Daily Prophet, hadn't so much as glanced up.

Fiona, the Potter family's wrinkled but spritely house elf, crossed the scene and clicked her fingers. A swirl of wind encapsulated the smoke and blew it out the open kitchen window.

"Thank you, Fiona." said Euphemia with a gracious nod.

"Of course, Mistress," Fiona bowed her bat-eared head and wrung her tiny hands, "Would you be liking a new copy of your magazine?"

"No, thank you, Fiona," said Euphemia, with a sideways look at her husband, "This one is still in readable condition."

Fleamont's hazel eyes rolled behind his spectacles, but his lips pulled up and apart in a smile and the lines by his eyes deepened.

"What's so interesting anyway, mum?" asked James from the table, taking a break from his notebook and stretching his arms. A grin slotted into place with an almost audible _BING_. "Someone wore the wrong hat to a charity fundraiser?"

Euphemia waved the damp cover at her son, "No, it's the Black and Malfoy wedding."

A swirl of fair hair and expensive robes was all that James was able to catch.

"Banking on an invite, huh?" James leant forward with a salacious grin, "Were you ropeable when you didn't get one?"

Euphemia didn't hear him, or at least pretended not to. She, instead, sighed at the picture.

"She looks enamoured with him, doesn't she?" she said with a nod, placing down the magazine and picking back up the ladle to stir for Fleamont, "It's good to see a young pureblood couple marrying for love and not social politics…"

"Blacks don't love," Sirius' expression was dark despite his light tone, "They fulfil duty."

Euphemia – one hand on her hip and the other brandishing a ladle – looked up with a stern smile.

"Good thing you're a Potter now then, isn't it?"

Sirius cleared his throat, but the three blood-related Potters could see the curve in his lips. Each had the grace to not mention it.

"Do you reckon they fired dark marks into the sky to celebrate?" asked Sirius, leaning back in his chair and flicking his hair hack from his face.

James looked up from his playbook and snorted, rubbing an ink-stained finger underneath his glasses, "The reporter must have missed that after one of your mother's cocktails."

Sirius' eyebrows pulsed as he fluffed the copy of the _Daily Prophet_ in his grip.

" _That_ and the muggle they probably tortured on Malfoy's stag night to prepare for such an _auspicious_ occasion…"

James blinked into space before his eyes slid back to his mother in realisation, "Didn't you babysit Narcissa, mum?"

Euphemia simply stirred at the stove, her back unnervingly still.

"No, your grandmother's Black blood wasn't strong enough to absorb her son's –" she cast a dark look at Fleamont "– lack of tact, so that duty fell to…"

"To?" urged James.

Euphemia took stock of both Sirius' and James' eyes on her, huffed, waved a hand, and turned her back to the boys once more.

"Never mind that," said Euphemia, stirring stiffly, "Get your father some hemlock root from the ingredient cupboard, Sirius."

James grinned into his notebook, licking his smiling lips as he made another notation on his page for Seeker strategies.

Fleamont looked up from where he tinkered on a cauldron and closed one eye in a deft wink.

Sirius ruffled James' hair on his way to the ingredient cupboard in the corner, acquiescing with Euphemia's request.

"There's no hemlock root left." said Sirius in a sigh, loping back to his chair.

Euphemia made a prim noise at the back of her throat, "I just went and got your book lists from the alley yesterday…"

"It's just a flame hop away, mum," said James distractedly, not bothering to look up as he scrawled, "Sirius and I can go, if you'd like?"

Euphemia and Fleamont whipped around from their individual tasks with the same urgency and a chorused " _No!_ "

Both parents and boys stared wide-eyed at one another.

James held up his inky hands in concession, "Alright, I got the wrong ingredient and measurements _once_."

Euphemia and Fleamont exchanged a charged look.

"That's not it, son." said Fleamont begrudgingly, sparing another glance towards his wife.

James' eyes followed the exchange between his parents and his lips stiffened, "What's going on?"

Euphemia sighed, swatting a hand at the question as she turned back to the stove.

"Isn't it obvious, James?"

James blinked, gentle exasperation leaking through his cheeks, "I've got my glasses on and everything and I'm not seeing it."

"Yeah, it should be safe – what with the entirety of the Black and Malfoy broods sunning themselves in the French Riviera." said Sirius in contribution.

Euphemia hesitated, but ploughed on, "If it weren't for the lingering supporters of…"

" _Bunch of rotters_ …" Fleamont's genial demeanour lapsed into something darker, " _I'll tell them what they can eat – they can eat my –_ "

"Even if it weren't for them, _yes_ ," said Euphemia with a patient smile at her husband, "Damocles Belby has mobs outside his new shop day and night – and I don't wish for either of you to get into a brawl,"

Euphemia spared a kind but exasperated look between the two teenage boys.

" _I know how passionate the two of you are in your defence of the issue…_ "

James blinked and screwed up his face in thought, "The Wolfsbane bloke?"

"Yes, darling, ' _the Wolfsbane bloke'_." confirmed Euphemia distractedly as she got back to helping Fleamont at the stove.

"People should be glad!" James erupted, his arms and his voice raising, " _Glad_ that the people they call beasts will be able to keep their minds! They won't be the beasts they claim in any way shape or form anymore – there should be better rights and, and… _work opportunities!_ "

"They're not all like Remus, James," said Fleamont patiently, throwing Euphemia a significant look, "They were easy recruitments for…well…"

James' lips thinned, "Have you been having coffee with Lyall again?"

"That's no tone to be speaking about your best friend's father in, James Potter." said Euphemia with a pointed finger in her son's direction.

"It's his fault Remus was bitten in the first place!" said James, his fist falling against the table with _THUMP_ that rattled the cutlery laid out for breakfast, "Needs to learn to shut his big trap –"

Fleamont raised a hand and levelled James with gentle eyes, "I'm sure Remus doesn't see it that way, son."

"No?" asked James, the word sizzling with suppressed anger, "Not when we run around under our bed sheets moaning all night to keep the shrieking shack rumour alive for him?"

"Not when we –"

Sirius' foot found James' shin beneath the table none too quietly.

James cleared his throat, "You know, er, do our best to cushion the blow of his condition."

"Nice save." said Fleamont with a knowing smile.

James raised his hands in surrender, nodding and sighing.

"Okay, okay, we won't go to the Alley."

The white haired and knuckled parents relaxed at their son's words.

Sirius, however, began to panic.

He leant forward and whispered urgently, "I've got to go to Kensington on the thirty first –"

James laid a hand on Sirius' wrist with a pointed look and bowed head.

"Relax, we'll get Fiona to help us." said James, nodding to the house elf that he still had trouble convincing to not swaddle him in his bed each night.

Sirius took a breath and nodded tensely, "Alright…"

"How far is Kensington from Islington anyway? Where you used to live?" asked James, rearranging his place setting idly.

Sirius shrugged, "About forty minutes."

James nodded earnestly for a moment, then a slow sly smile spread across his face.

"And to…Claremont Square?"

James barely ducked in enough time to dodge the makeshift missive Sirius made of his silver teaspoon.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Pride and Prejudice

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **beaniebun; I'm so glad Regulus is as interesting to you as I've always found him after his mention in Deathly Hallows! And as I'm so fond of him, he's getting this arc and – as many people have probably guessed – he will be a character whose fate will be altered by his redemption.**

 **Aamarylis; I'm afraid that the boys' trip to London won't be chronicled or all that eventful – it's just for the parts for Sirius' motorbike that I have to hint at so it doesn't just come as a shock in their seventh year. But I almost second guessed perhaps writing it at your comment but then decided against it at the last moment as I came up dry for any shenanigans they might have gotten up to.**

* * *

" _L is for the way you look at me…O is for the only one I see… V is very, very extraordinary… E is even more than anyone that you adore can…Love is all that I can give to you… Love is more than just a game for two…_ "

The music and the summer sun filled the living room where Hope Lupin spun around the room with her newly gangly son.

"That's right…hold your frame…" said Hope in encouragement, laughing as they twirled and swept around furniture.

Remus' book laid abandoned on the window seat, and a batch of scones cooled on the kitchen bench.

" _Two in love can make it…Take my heart and please don't break it… Love was made for me and you…"_

The gentle _WHOOSH_ of the Floo and the call of "Hope, darling?" signalled Lyall Lupin's early arrival home from work at the Ministry of Magic. It slowed the bare feet of the house's occupants.

Hope smiled at her son, cupping his spiky cheek and lifting the needle off of the worn record.

"I have something to make up for my long days this past month!" said the husband and father, sweeping grandly into the room and offering a box up to Hope.

The stamp of two large curly mauve M's were unmistakeable.

Hope smoothed down the paisley pattern of her dress as she eyed the box.

"Dress robes?" said Hope, gingerly accepting the flat square box, "Whatever for?"

Lyall ran a hand along his peppered coiffed hair, "You're taking Remus to the Alley to get his school things this afternoon aren't you?"

She lifted the lid of the box to peak in. A glimmering pool of sapphire spilled out.

"I've never had to wear robes before." said Hope, frowning as she closed the lid resolutely.

Lyall took in a breath as his eyes darted around, "Your muggle garb makes you stand out…"

Hope placed down the box on the seat of an arm chair and folded her arms across her chest.

"As what?"

Lyall hesitated, and then smiled patiently, "As a…a muggle, darling."

Remus recognised that the music of the day had, undeniably, changed.

"And what's wrong with that?"

Lyall's brown eyes went wide.

"Nothing!" he hesitated, squinting in concession and looking down at the carpet between them before adding on, "Usually…"

"Lyall Lupin," Hope's voice rang with primness, "You tell me what you mean and you tell me _now_."

"With the unrest with the new apothecary…the remaining supporters of…"

Lyall's eyes slid to Remus, then quickly away – back to Hope, his mouth without words.

Remus had divulged the happenings in Hogsmeade on the last trip of the term – of what he had seen. She, naturally, shared a brief, concerned recount with her husband. Things hadn't been the same since.

Remus was so sick of being tip toed around.

" _Voldemort_." said Remus, feeling his limbs tighten and something like defiance unfurl in his neck.

"Yes… _him_ …" said Lyall, his words deftly dodging verbal landmines, "They like to feed off the chaos and spark it into…something more…"

Hope paled.

Lyall rested a hand on hers, "They're animals, darling, and I don't want you getting targeted."

"Fine," Hope's lips buttoned as she heaped the sparling fabric into her arms and started up the stairs. She paused on the first step and turned her raised nose over her shoulder. "Comb your hair while I dress, Remus."

Fifteen minutes later, they whirled into the Leaky Cauldron with a huff from his mother and a cloud of ash spilling forth from the fireplace.

Tom tipped his head at the two from behind the bar, "Hello, Mrs Lupin!"

"Hello, Tom," said Hope with a hurried smile, "Off to get Remus' school supplies!"

"Aye," said Tom, polishing a glass and his eyes setting distantly on the door to the back courtyard where many a muggle and wizard had passed through, "Busy out there."

Hope made a noise in her closed mouth, linked her arm with Remus' and charged on through the door.

Remus had to produce his wand to tap the particular pattern, and then Hope pulled him out into the cobblestone street and they were off like something was chasing them.

An uneventful string of visits to Gringotts, Flourish and Blotts, and Potages Cauldron Shop were spoiled by a throbbing mob gathered outside a sparkling new shopfront. Sheets still hung on the inside of the window displays. It was, quite obviously, at that moment – _vacant_.

"The next thing you know – they'll be employing the beasts!" said one scraggly looking witch, her stringy black hair plastered to her forehead and cheeks.

"Some do-gooder will get them welfare payments from the Ministry if they don't." said another.

Remus bowed his head as he and his mother passed the surly mob to get to Madam Malkin's.

"They'll be taking our money…our jobs – jobs for our children –"

A tug at his collar wrenched Remus from his mother's side. A tall, bespectacled wizard shook Remus at the rest of the gathered crowd.

"This perfectly respectable boy will be done out of a job by an animal."

Remus cheeks felt the full force of the afternoon sun beating down on the alley.

Hope scrappled back through the crowd that had surged closed around Remus and the Wizard, further separating the mother and child.

" _Unhand my son!_ "

Remus' collar sprung back into place at his neck. He rubbed the front of his throat where his button had been almost garrotted as Hope led him away.

"Mum…" said Remus, voice cracking and head bowing, "I'm sorry."

Hope swiped a nail along her honeycomb fringe that had fallen into her eyes and turned a sunny, but strained smile on him.

"For what, darling?"

"You probably planned for me to get a job straight after school…move out…have a family of my own…" Remus couldn't bring himself to look up from his shoes or to pull himself out of his deepest fears, "But now you're stuck with me – I'll never be able to support myself."

Hope pulled Remus by his hand into the shade of Madam Malkin's stoop.

"I never planned to have a wizard for a son either," she said with a firm upper lip, breaking it for a kind smile, "And what's so bad about being stuck with a thoughtful and helpful son who is a much better dancer than his father?"

Remus sighed, nodding helplessly in the face of his mother's optimism.

Hope recognised his reluctance, "It might look bleak now, but look at the Vietnam War – done!"

 _The warm pat of his mother's soft hands on his had no right to steal away his moping_ , thought Remus. But it did.

"All bad things pass, my darling boy, like phases of the moon," she said, and gestured back up the alley, "That shop is a major breakthrough as it is – you won't be a second rate citizen much longer – and even if it takes a while, your father and I have at least another thirty years left in us,"

Hope grinned.

"So long as we're alive, you will never go hungry – or without new robes." she said with a sunning smile, waving him through the doors of Madam Malkin's.

Remus had never been so happy while being pricked and prodded with needles in his life.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: The McKinnon Mouse

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **elyjayne; I've been rather proud of myself for the frequency of these last couple updates! It came as a surprise to me but I've had so many lovely comments – so many more than I am used to – and they have spurred me on. And we will be getting back to Katherine in the very next chapter! :)**

 **Aamarylis; I agree! I had to at least give Remus ONE chapter to be realistic about his character's challenges he faces.**

 **beaniebun; From the lack of attempts at the Lupin family, I was glad to have a lot of freedom with them. I think I got the names right? People argue over his mother's name all the time. As everyone's still young, I felt obligated to show their families – to show where they come from and maybe why they are the way they are. I hope that by the end everyone will be okay with the ending I have planned for him – I think I've fixed a few things in my outline anyway!**

* * *

On a night before the school term at Hogwarts returned, the McKinnon family took the rare opportunity to dine altogether.

Victor, Marlene's father, sat at the head of the table, not saying a word outside of his compliments to his wife, Anne; seated on his left.

Lincoln, the eldest and only son of the McKinnons, sat opposite his mother.

Marlene sat reluctantly beside her brother, getting a front row seat to his exploits from work.

Eventually, much to her resignation, the conversation turned to her.

"Your uncle said you didn't participate when he came to talk to your class."

Marlene focused on dragging a square of pork belly through her mashed potatoes, " _Uncle Alastor left most of the class shrinking in their seats, actually…_ "

Alastor Moody was Marlene's uncle on her Mother's side. As he was often deep in missions, much like the rest of his family who had each gone into the Auror Department at the Ministry, he didn't advertise his relations. Lest they end up dead. An occupation hazard of the job.

"He said that the Potter boy and Longbottom boy were the only ones interested in becoming an Auror," continued Anne, slicing her Brussel sprouts more roughly, "And your head of house contacted us to let us know that you were currently undecided on your future path,"

Anne looked up, shaking her head imploringly at her daughter across the table.

"What's _wrong_ with being an Auror?"

Marlene's eyes lowered as soon as they raised.

"Everyone in our family has been an Auror," said Marlene, quietly, "I just wanted to see what else –"

Lincoln snorted, "What else is there worth doing?"

"It is a field that commands respect!" said Anne, abandoning her utensils either side of her plate.

"Respect to your face maybe…" Marlene mumbled the words into her potatoes.

It was a well-known fact, for everyone apart from the investigating force of Aurors, that they were some of the most despised workers at the Ministry. Admin accepted their paper work with smiles that turned to scowls as soon as the grey-robed witches and wizards turned away. Whispers followed their exits from rooms, lavatories, and most public spaces.

It seemed that once they earned their title and put on their robes that they also put on an attitude.

"Is it the influence of this new friend?" asked Anne, lips postering, "Miss Katherine Spencer?"

Marlene's chair burned beneath her.

"Oh, _the Chosen One_ …" droned Lincoln, bringing a hand down on the table, "No one actually saw her best You-Know-Who – Dumbledore probably took care of it for her!"

Marlene felt rage knock around her skull and break free from her mouth, "That's not true!"

Anne blinked coolly at her daughter.

"Did you see her finish him?"

Something icy stabbed into the space behind Marlene's ears.

"Well…no…" she conceded, before recovering, "But Lily did! And Potter and Black!"

Lincoln lowered his chin and his eyes gleamed with mirth, "But not you."

Something caught in Marlene's throat – a confession.

"I…I was too scared…"

"Are you a man or a mouse?" said Victor, speaking for the first time.

Marlene blinked, "Er, neither...?"

"You're a McKinnon!" continued Victor, done with his observation of the conversation and finally joining in, "Death Eaters all know and tremble at our name!"

"I did see her fight off the Cruciatus Curse." The words tumbled out of Marlene's mouth – to redeem her crumbling standing in the family, if nothing else.

Anne's discontented expression lifted, "An unforgiveable? At sixteen? Maybe she has promise after all."

Lincoln scowled, reaching for his goblet.

"Not to mention, she punched him in the nose." Marlene tacked on.

Lincoln swallowed his drink and went back to meal, saying, "Still, I think you should consider your friends more wisely, Marlene."

Marlene's eyes narrowed of their own accord.

"What's wrong with Katherine?"

"Hanging around someone like that will eventually get you killed," said Lincoln, waving a fork, "Or failing your subjects."

"Speaking of…" slipped in Anne, "Apparating lessons begin this year for you – do you remember everything we've told you over the years?

"Yes," said Marlene, tiredly, "But Voldemort's –"

Victor's eyes flashed to the window.

Anne's hand trembled and missed the cut she was making of her dinner, clattering loudly into the plate.

"– gone. Katherine is one of the most skilled and nicest witches in my year, and I'm not going to stop being her friend."

Lincoln's lips tightened, and he looked away from Marlene pointedly, "No, you'll just stop breathing one day."

Marlene felt her breath leave her in exasperation.

"What's your real problem with her?"

"Why do you even like her so much?" his response was swift.

Marlene felt a chasm open up in between her ears, "I just…do…"

Lincoln inclined his head in the penultimate show of condescension.

"Perhaps a little bit _too much_."

Victor shot a look between his two children, "That's enough, you two."

"She's bad for your reputation, Marley," Lincoln went on, like a dog with a bone, " _That's_ my problem with her,"

He motioned a hand between himself and Marlene.

"And _you_ reflect _us_."

"Typical," Marlene laughed humorously, "You should have been a Slytherin."

Lincoln stabbed a finger at Marlene, "Don't you swear at me like that!"

Marlene couldn't stop.

"At least Katherine's not selfish – she tried to take the killing curse for Professor Giles – and –"

"We get it, sweetheart," said Anne, waving a hand listlessly through the air by her temple, exasperated, "She's the patron saint of Hogwarts."

"She's a Quidditch player," said Lincoln, scathingly, "There's only so thin a level of thickness in the head they can aspire for."

Marlene couldn't speak – _couldn't think_ – at the thoughtless words of her brother.

Dinner continued in silence.

Marlene kept it as she boiled until her anger was as white as the fat on her pork – flashing behind her eyes.

"I lied."

The McKinnons all turned to the youngest of their brood.

"What?" asked Anne with furrowed brow and an unsure quirk of her lips.

Marlene was flooded with a plethora of emotions at once. So much so that she couldn't bring herself to move a muscle. She just stared into a lamp.

"When I said that I just wanted to see what else there was other than being an Auror," said Marlene, any variation of tone stolen from her by the raw need to just expel the words, "I know what I want to do."

Anne sighed, short and annoyed, "Go on then, tell us."

Marlene felt a spiteful smile push through her cheeks and part her lips.

"I want to play Quidditch,"

Marlene lifted her eyes, glancing at her still family and then the door.

"And to be excused." she said, already falling away to the door.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Fast Times at Claremont Square

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **MonsterMash666; I'm sorry that Katherine getting sorted into Gryffindor made you want to stop reading the series. I really had to place her in that house in order to put her in the middle of all the happenings at Hogwarts in the easiest and most natural way possible. I hope you find a rightly sorted MC for you eventually :)**

 **beaniebun; Thank you so much! Marlene's development had sort of taken a backseat, but she – and Lily – will be getting a decent amount more time from here on in! And from your comment I seem to be doing justice to the idea I had for her arc so thank you for the feedback on the last chapter! :)**

* * *

 _ **THE GIRL WHO LIVED TWICE**_

 _THE WIZARDING WORLD'S MOST HIGH PROFILE WITCH, KATHERINE SPENCER, HAS DROPPED OFF THE RADAR DURING THE SUMMER FOLLOWING THE DEFEAT OF HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED. IS SHE STUDYING FOR SCHOOL? IS SHE THE NEW SPEAKER AT THE AUROR DEPARTMENT'S SECRET SEMINARS? IS SHE PARTNERING WITH SLEEK-EZY'S FOR THEIR NEW AUTUMN CAMPAIGN OF FANTASTIC HAIR CARE WONDERS? HAS SHE BEEN TRAINING WITH THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES IN THE DINKISH MOUTAINS? IN A FEW SHORT DAYS, WE WILL CATCH OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF HER IN NEARLY THREE MONTHS AS SHE BOARDS THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS._

 _ **MUGGLE MYSTERY**_

 _TWO MUGGLES WERE FOUND WANDERING THE WIZARDING TOWN OF UPPER FLAGLEY ON THE 20_ _TH_ _OF JUNE 1976. THE MAN AND WOMAN HAD NO RECOLLECTION OF THE PAST WEEK AND WERE MUMBLING ABOUT BOTTOMLESS WARDROBES AND SNAKES WITH HUMAN FACES. ANY WITNESSES ARE URGED TO COME FORWARD._

 _ **SHOP OPENING**_

 _SHOP 102A DIAGON ALLEY IS NOW A NEW SPECIALISED APOTHECARY, OWNER: DAMOCLES BELBY. SERVICES WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM AUGUST 20_ _TH_ _._

With a sigh, Katherine put down the copy of the Daily Prophet that had been delivered that morning.

For six weeks, the articles had been almost identical. A plastering of peace on the front – usually in her name – and then a sprinkling of conspicuous happenings throughout the rest of the pages. She searched the yellowing parchment forwards and backwards most of the morning for any sign that Voldemort had returned, like she knew he would. Eventually.

If she wasn't able to hole up in her room for the better part of the day, Aunt Victoria had her running errands or cleaning some far away corner of the house. Far away from _her_ , at least.

Katherine and her Aunt had never held a heart to heart in all the twelve years that Katherine had lived on Claremont. She knew, however, that things were the worst that they had ever been between them.

Katherine might as well have held a wand to her Uncle as far as Aunt Victoria was concerned.

The only mention of magic had taken place on the day Katherine returned from Hogwarts, walking herself home from the train station, as usual.

* * *

Marlene had ducked off through London to the Leaky Cauldron to use the floo as soon as walking through the wall separating the magical and muggle platforms.

Lily, however, had introduced Katherine to her parents, waving from the backseat of her dad's Volkswagen not ten minutes after – needing to beat the traffic back to Cokeworth.

So Katherine walked back along the familiar streets, the only thing that changed was her absent St Mary's uniform.

She could almost kid herself that the past year hadn't happened. That Giles was alive, somewhere in the countryside – not having answered Dumbledore's call for help. That she hadn't gone to Hogwarts, and she was walking back from St Mary's.

The sun was in the right spot, she realised, it being the same time she would usually return for the summer holidays.

The same amount people were on the pavements for an early Sunday afternoon.

But, in front of her, Regulus had strolled the entire way.

 _They lived on the same block_ , she had to remind herself.

 _Katherine wondered if he and Sirius had always been just on the fringes of her awareness…_

When Regulus had reached the front gate of the space between Number Eleven and Number Thirteen, he turned back, as if sensing her gaze. He squinted into the sun, and then lifted his hand to wave farewell.

It felt like the magical world saying goodbye to Katherine – for a few months, anyway.

Katherine lifted a hand and managed a smile.

Regulus gave a nod and then disappeared mid-step towards the neat front line of the townhouses.

The non-existent Number Twelve Grimmauld Place finally made sense to Katherine. _It was magically concealed_. She wondered, briefly, the amount times she must have walked past it during summers when Sirius and Regulus had been locked behind it's magic. She wondered if they had ever looked back, unknowing...

Pushing away the sensation of needles pricking the edges of her eyeballs, Katherine strolled on – around the corner and down the street.

Twenty one…Twenty two…Twenty three…

The gold numbers on the darkly varnished doors blurred until Katherine stood on a familiar stoop.

Out of the corner of her eye, Katherine's vision split back to the night she left Number Twenty Four Claremont Square. Flashes of red, pink, blue, and green might have been coursing overhead once more. She recalled of a flash of golden hair swirled. The memory of the Dementor prickled her sunned skin. Giles warm grip…his mop of dark curls…the burning intensity of his coal gaze…

Her suede pump, however, was long gone. Just like Giles.

"Katherine?"

The door had opened sometime during Katherine's reverie, and Aunt Victoria stood, a willowy wisp of a woman, in the doorway.

"You gave me fright…standing out there like that… people would think you're up to no good…loitering…" she muttered to herself, turning and hastening back down the hallway.

It was cleaner than usual, Katherine noticed.

The only frames on the walls were paintings. All photographs of Aunt Victoria and Uncle Henry were conspicuously absent.

"I see you got your clothes,"

Katherine looked up.

Aunt Victoria stood in the archway to the kitchen at the end of the hallway, crossing her arms.

"That strange _Gills_ fellow was rather adamant he retrieve all your belongings," she said, eyeing Katherine with a charged, unnameable emotion, "He seemed to think that you wouldn't be coming back..."

It was as if something was tugging at a loose thread of a sleeve – but inside Katherine's chest. Every mention of Giles pulled it further and further. Katherine wondered if there would be anything left of her by the time she returned to school if it continued on.

"Giles," said Katherine, the indignity of his name being fudged steadying her voice, "His name was Giles."

Aunt Victoria quirked an eyebrow, deftly deducing, it seemed, the reason for her niece's reaction.

It was a strange new dynamic between the two. Neither felt that they were supposed to be there. Neither wanted to be, anyway.

With a huff, Victoria turned with a waved hand, "Tea's on the bench, I'll be watching my show in the sitting room…"

Katherine stepped through to the kitchen, truly alone for the first time in months, and fixed herself a cup of tea. She was careful to not hit the sides of her cup with her spoon, not that anyone was there to hear – or not hear. Laying her spoon carefully on the tray, Katherine nursed her cup in her hands and found her eyes stuck on a faraway vision out the kitchen window to the courtyard.

With a sip, Katherine sighed and put her cup down. She turned and looked back down the hallway she had once run down with a hand – green from floo powder – to witness her Uncle drop on the threshold she had stepped across for the thousandth time moments ago.

She stood in the ashes of who she used to be.

* * *

Thoughts of purchasing her own owl filled Katherine's mind – taking the place of the articles and her return to Claremont at the beginning of the summer. And then just how she would do that – and how she was going to get to Diagon Alley to get all the items on her Sixth Year school list. _September first,_ she lamented _, was only three days away…_

"Katherine!" came Aunt Victoria' shrill voice, accompanying her shoes on the stairs.

Katherine stood from her desk, preparing to acquiesce to whatever task Aunt Victoria wanted her to complete.

"Yes?" she called back, unable to summon much enthusiasm.

Her doorknob turned from the outside, and Aunt Victoria looked in – a frazzled glint in her eyes.

"You have a friend at the door,"

The words sent Katherine's chest into spasm, and a heat flooded through her skull.

Aunt Victoria gulped, composing herself, before adding primly, "From _school_."

Lily Evans stood on the stoop of Number Twenty Four Claremont Square, red hair shining richly underneath the sun.

Grinning at Katherine from behind her sunglasses, Lily threw her arms around her without much warning.

Katherine caught her friend back in time to return the hug instead of being knocked backwards into the hallway.

Aunt Victoria watched on with reserved curiosity, watering a rubber plant by the door.

"I got my license," Lily squealed, pulling away and waving a thin, freckled arm to the curb.

Any person with any ties to muggle world in a post World War 2 society could instantly recognise the Volkswagen Beetle. Lily's was a sun-beaten red.

"Dad's been too busy to come into London after work – and mum has been helping Petunia find a flat in the city – "

Katherine blinked in the onslaught of words from her friend, and held up a hand and smiled.

"Lily, Lily… what's going on?"

Lily took a breath and smiled anew.

"It's why I haven't been able to come get you so you can stay," she said, before gesturing to where her car sat parallel to the pavement, "But _now_ …"

The gloom of Number Twenty Four seemed to shed from Katherine like a second skin.

"I can stay with you for the rest of the summer?" asked Katherine, reigning her heart in from where it tried to jump into her mouth.

Lily eyed the woman bent out of view – pretending to water plants – cautiously, "Only if it's okay with your Aunt, of course."

Little did Lily know that it would be, in fact, _very_ okay with Katherine's Aunt.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**

* * *

 _*~ Chapter 32: A Midsummer's Knight Bus (A Sneak Peak) ~*_

" _Ooh," The woman next to James bobbed to look over the crowd, "Is that Lily Evans?"_

 _Katherine noticed that she was one of the bodies the Dementor had turned into for James the previous year – his mother._

" _Oh, I should have gotten a haircut." said the man next her, smoothing back perfectly white wisps that stuck up – at the back._

 _James tried for a casual look, but he was crossing and uncrossing his arms – his eyes flickering around wildly, self-consciously. His feet shuffled beneath him, as if readying to run._

" _Someone your age should be happy that you still have hair to cut." said James, with a throwaway grin._

 _A head of neatly swept back black hair emerged from behind a seventh year's burly shoulders, "I think you look great."_

 _James' father turned to Sirius, "Well, thank you, son-I-should-have-had."_

 _..._


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: A Midsummer's Knight Bus

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

* * *

The aptly titled 'Drive My Car' by The Beatles drifted easily through the car's speakers from the cassette tape Lily had slid in upon pulling away from Claremont Square.

The windows cranked down, the sun seared pleasantly across Katherine's thighs. As they were on the last wave of the summer, Katherine's skin still glided easily over the cream leather seats every time she shifted. Her fingers ran over the crimson stitching as she sang along with Lily.

" _Baby you can drive my car… and maybe I'll love you…"_

The girls turned to one another, grinning.

" _Beep beep, beep beep, yeah!"_

Lily smiled distractedly as she turned on her indicator, checked both ways, and pulled into the street that housed the Leaky Cauldron.

The clusters of bell bottoms had thinned noticeably. The dresses grew longer, and the hats had strange unidentifiable feathers poking out of them.

Looking for a space on the curb, the beetle crawled as Lily quietly swore about _'clutch coasting'_ and then _'do they forget manual cars exist…'_

"There!" said Katherine, pointing at a space between another beetle and a soft-top coupe.

Lily put her indicator on, grinning, "I knew all of the practise for reverse parallels would come in handy…"

Katherine unclicked her seat belt, turning to Lily as it slid and lifted the collar of her mini dress, "Ready?"

Lily lifted her sunglasses on top of her head and adjusted her orange and purple flowered halter top in the rear view mirror and wiggled her jeans up in her seat. She shared an amused sideways glance with Katherine.

"Gringotts first?"

Katherine nodded, and reached for the springy metal handle, sliding across the warm leather seat.

Locking the car doors on Katherine's belongings they'd gathered together before leaving, the girls started as inconspicuously as possible towards the blackened front of the Leaky Cauldron.

Linking arms, the blonde and red-head pushed through the door and weaved through the bar to the back courtyard and then onto Gringotts.

Lily marvelled, open mouthed, when they plunged to the high security vaults where Katherine's family vault was located.

Katherine didn't reveal that it was still as strange to her as it probably was to Lily.

While navigating the underground tunnels behind the torch-wielding goblin, Katherine could have sworn she saw a familiar flash of black hair, but dismissed it to quickly shovel coins into her bottomless velvet sack as Lily watched on.

"I wonder if this is what Black's vault looks like…" mused Lily aloud.

Giles' warm breath against the back of her neck was a mere wisp of a memory, but his coaching in the coin meanings were ever present in Katherine's mind.

"He probably has a different one now…leaving and all…" said Katherine, trying to stitch up the gaping hole of bereavement in her chest at the reminder of Giles.

But it was only to be ripped open again with every shop they passed through. She feared she would never be able to return to any of them ever again without tasting Giles' words from that first day across her tongue, and hearing the strange rhythm of his shoes on the cobblestones beside her.

As they closed in on Twilfitt and Tattings, Katherine fingered her velvet sack of dwindling coins.

"Katherine – _look!_ "

Lily's voice lifted Katherine's head.

"It's Damocles Belby's shop!"

Before Katherine could take in the sign, Lily pulled her through the door.

The few patrons lurking about the outer limits of the shop jumped at the DING of the doorbell.

Damocles Belby somehow still managed to not fill out his robes, even after graduating Hogwarts and adolescence. And he wasn't low on galleons to get the richly embroidered velvet material properly fitted, if the gold adornments around the shop were anything to go by.

His wiry frames were pushed up his nose as his eyes lifted, and a grin overtook his face; framed by unkempt shaggy hair.

"Evans, Spencer – welcome!"

A few people glanced up at the shop owner's greeting before busying themselves with scanning the shelves for rare ingredients for an equally rare potion – of which only Damocles Belby stocked.

"Hello, Damocles," said Katherine, her voice quiet to match the store's atmosphere, "How's business?"

Damocles tweaked his glasses proudly but bashfully, "It was a bit of a slow start, but after the protestors moved on I've had so much interest that I rarely need to go home –" he waved in the direction of the ceiling, –"I sleep above the shop most nights."

"Anyone we know?" asked Lily, fingers running over neatly packaged ingredients on the front counted, her eyes scanning them excitedly.

"Not that I could tell you if there were," said Damocles with a smile, bowing his head, "I maintain a vow of discretion for all of my customers."

"How much for the ingredients and recipe?"

Damocles did a double take at Lily, before answering slowly, "Fifty Galleons…" he glanced to Katherine, and smiled, "For friends, thirty."

Lily counted out the golden coins, needing to substitute in some silver ones.

Damocles deftly collected the coins, sweeping them into the register, before neatly lining up all the packaged ingredients by memory.

"Would you like a carry bag?" he asked, blinking cordially from behind the counter.

Lily smiled, bow-headed, "Yes, please."

Damocles carefully placed all of the ingredients and a sheet of parchment – the recipe – inside a brown paper bag with a carry handle.

"There you go, have a nice day, ladies." He waved, following his newly distracted gaze to a confused looking customer near the front of the store.

The door _DING_ 'd loudly once more as the two girls stepped into the bustling cobblestone street once more – jarring from the quiet, slow pace of Damocles' shop.

Lily examined the paper bag, smiling, "Sustainable, I like it."

Katherine managed a smile in return, before hesitating and letting her curiosity lead her tongue.

"What did you get that for…you don't suffer the condition…"

Lily's gaze became ground-bound, and her lips pursed a moment, "It's now notorious as the hardest potion to brew, I want to test my hand at it…"

Katherine felt the distinct befuddlement of an untruth.

"Is this… is this about… Remus?"

Lily's head whipped up, her lips fallen open, "You figured it out too?"

Katherine, in fact, _had_.

She had cursed herself when she added it all up. The illness from his childhood. His constant weak constitution. The strange protectiveness of his friends. The disappearances – the same time every month.

"I had a lot of time to think over the holidays about the past year," said Katherine, "When… when did you figure it out?"

"I started having suspicions in third year," Lily frowned, then went on, "They were confirmed when Sev – _Snivellus_ – followed Black's vague remarks to go down the tunnel."

Katherine remembered the screaming match between James and Sirius, but hadn't thought, until that moment, the impact it would have had on the werewolf in the group.

"Poor Remus."

Lily nodded resolutely, holding the bag's handle tighter, "I'm going to anonymously gift it to him."

"He might not drink it – he might think it's poison." said Katherine, thinking as she spoke.

"He won't accept it if I offer it to him in the open," Lily sighed, "This is my best chance at helping him."

Katherine tried for a smile, and liked her arm back through Lily's, "You're a saint, Lily Evans."

Lily's smile was hard won.

"And itching to get home – come on!"

* * *

The Evans family lived in a neat two story red-bricked house in the London-side suburb of Cokeworth. The grass was green, the flowers were yellow and pink, and the pleasant smell of pastry and cherries drifted out of a kitchen window where it rested on a neatly folded red and white tea towel.

Katherine stared up at the rose-climbed front, and felt pin pricks from behind her eyes. A feeling tingled up and down her spine, numbing her legs – a knowing that it was the life she almost had.

It looked hauntingly similar to Number Seven Geranium Lane in Godric's Hollow.

Lugging her trunk to the front door, Katherine maintained a few steps between her and Lily – still taking it all in.

"I'm going out with Vernon."

A tall, pinched-faced blonde version of Lily bounded into the entrance hall from the stairs.

"Oh, that's nice, dear," said a honey-haired women from the kitchen on their right, "Where?"

"Just for a drive…" said Petunia, her keen eyes falling upon Katherine and narrowing slightly in suspicion, "Some fish and chips."

A red-headed man waved a hand from where he sat at the kitchen table, "Alright, back before nine, darl',"

He glanced up from his paper, spotting Lily, and broke into a warm grin.

"Lily – sweetpea!" the man greeted, abandoning his newspaper, "How'd your car go?"

Petunia raised her nose, the action dramatized by her long neck, and marched out the front door.

"Brilliant, Dad!"

Katherine glanced back to watch Lily sit easily beside her father at the table, before motioning at Katherine.

"Oh, and this is Katherine!"

Lily's father rose to his feet and extended a hand and a smile, "Pleased to finally meet you, Katherine, Lily has told us plenty already."

Katherine couldn't help but drawn comparisons between the man the only other father figure she had known – Uncle Henry. She found them at opposite poles on the Earth's surface. Where Uncle Henry was clinical and bland, Lily's dad was exuberant and warm.

"You too, Mr Evans." said Katherine, gently shaking his calloused over hand.

"Call me Robert, 'Mr Evans' still feels like my father." he said, laughing as he withdraw his hand and sat back down at the table.

"I'm sure _he_ feels the same about your grandfather," said Lily's mother, turning away from the stove, wiping her hands on her apron, "You can call me Rose."

 _No,_ thought Katherine, _I really can't_. But she smiled, and nodded politely at Lily's mother.

Katherine bowed her head, unsure how to communicate her gratitude to the fullest, "Thank you for having me."

"Not a problem, sweetheart," said Mrs Evans, taking one of Katherine's hands between both of her small, soft ones, "Have you eaten?"

Mrs Evans had Lily's emerald green eyes, and they glittered up at Katherine disarmingly, sweetly.

"I…haven't." she confessed, vaguely remembering breakfast.

The sun was beginning to set, pink light spilling into the kitchen.

"Well, _sit_ , sit," Mrs Evans ushered Katherine into the seat across from Lily, "Ice tea and fruit?"

"I would love some."

Lily stirred her ice cubes loudly as she sucked on an orange slice.

Katherine flinched at the sound.

But no one reprimanded Lily.

Mrs Evans hummed at the stove, re-tying her frilly apron to be tighter around her slight frame.

Mr Evans whistled, carrying the same tune as his wife, before breaking into rasping laughter as he reached the funny papers.

Katherine's posture relaxed, and she even slurped on the edge of her glass to no consequence.

In the following three days, there were no cracks in the family's façade – they just loved each other, simply, sincerely.

Mr Evans, who Katherine resolutely still called Robert in her head, was up at dawn each day to drive to the police station where he stayed until dusk.

Mrs Evans woke with her husband, making any new presses necessary to his uniform and packing his lunch before sending him out the door. She spent the rest of the day cleaning, gardening, and cooking.

Katherine and Lily followed her around, allowed breaks to lay out on towels in pairs of Lily's swimsuits to enjoy the summer sun. As well as soaking up the sun, Katherine soaked up an unexpected amount of knowledge from Mrs Evans that had countless applications in the wizarding world.

At night, the girls poured themselves into Lily's twin-sized bed, full of food, smelling of the goats milk soap the family used, and more freckled than they were when they woke.

The first night, Katherine had her only and most peculiar dream. A grumpy house elf with violent tendencies had visited her while she made a night time trip to the toilet down the hall from Lily's room. It had warned her against returning to Hogwarts, thumping her on the leg to impress it's importance when Katherine insisted that she must return. It had left her, mumbling _"Kreacher warned the cursed girl...Kreacher did what Master asked... Kreacher will sleep easy..."_ before disapparating. Katherine wrote it off, her mind constantly having been turned to Hogwarts over the summer and most likely working through her issues subconsciously - as she had been taught dreams were for. It would be a true nightmare to never return - to stay at Claremont Square indefinitely.

It was on the day of the water hydrant burst of 1976 that Katherine saw Petunia again, the day before term returned, having moved into her own apartment in the city. Through the spray and splash of the water, both Katherine and Lily watched Petunia collect her last box of posessions, consider Lily with an undecipherable look, and then get into Vernon Dursely's car and drive off into the skyline of the city.

* * *

Come September first, Mr Evans drove the girls to the train station on his way to work, helping load their trunks and owls onto trolleys before bidding them farewell; a fond grip of Katherine's shoulder and a kiss upon Lily's flaming crown. And then he was gone in the ever beeping and bumper to bumper traffic of London.

Rushing underneath the clock tower outside and through the glass doors, Katherine saw that it was a quarter past ten – they had forty five minutes before the Hogwarts express was due to leave. _Plenty of time._

That is, if a couple hundred other witches and wizards _weren't_ making the very same pilgrimage as the two girls.

Katherine hadn't recognised anyone in particular yet as the girls pushed their trolleys under the large doming glass ceilings, but there were a few tell-tale signs of travellers out of place.

Owls were an undeniable marker of a witch of wizard. Strange garb – usually one of two; either fully robed, uncaring purebloods, or those who made an attempt in the muggle styles but were usually a few decades – sometime centuries – behind the trends.

As the girls' strappy summer shoes closed in on Platform 9 ¾ Katherine noticed something else. An order – an abstract line of sorts.

Katherine remembered how discreetly Giles had pulled her through the previous year. They were so late that Katherine hadn't been privy to the struggles of trying to cross the barrier on mass.

Lily, however, seemed accustomed to the secretive dance, and slowed by a schedule board.

"The group by the map are next," said Lily at a whisper, peeking out of the corner of her eye, "We might be able to run in after them…I can't see any others close by…"

A white haired witch huddled by a wall-mounted map with a white haired man and two dark haired boys, discreetly peered at the barrier from beneath her deep purple velvet hat. With a quivering peacock feather, she turned back to her group.

"Evans!"

Lily cringed, but then turned and smiled.

"Oh – Marcus, hello," she said, glancing over his shoulder, "Marlene here with you?"

Marcus shook his curls side to side, "Nah, she went through earlier…"

Their conversation dimmed in Katherine's ears as her eyes searched.

Katherine bobbed away to maintain her view of the barrier. Instead she got a clear view of the purple-hatted witch, assumedly her husband, and the two dark-haired teenage boys; one neat, and the other messy – a piece sticking up at the back.

At their familiar faces, Katherine's heart felt as light as lace.

And, at the loud greeting of Marcus McKinnon, they were looking in her direction – or, rather, _Lily's_.

"Ooh," The purple-hatted woman next to James bobbed to look over the crowd, "Is that Lily Evans?"

Katherine noticed that she was one of the bodies the Boggart had turned into for James the previous school year – his mother.

" _Oh_ , I should have gotten _a haircut_." said the man next her, smoothing back perfectly white wisps that stuck up – at the back.

James tried for a casual look, but he was crossing and uncrossing his arms – his eyes flickering around wildly, self-consciously. His feet shuffled beneath him, as if readying to run.

"Someone your age should be happy that you still have hair to cut." said James, with a throwaway grin.

A head of neatly swept back black hair emerged from behind a seventh year's burly shoulders, "I think you look great."

Sirius had gotten another few centimetres on James in height over the summer, the tallest of the four gathered by the map.

James' father turned to Sirius, "Well, thank you, _son-I-should-have-had_."

Sirius beamed and basked in the sun flittering through the end of the tunnel for but a moment, a shadow and a new expression crossing his face.

Katherine's chest sprung forth without her at the sight of slicked back hair and a shiny black suit.

"Regulus…" said Sirius, clearing his throat, "You're taller."

He _was_ , Katherine noticed. _And_ rather… _tan_.

Regulus's eyes slipped around loftily to Sirius over his high cheekbones – hollows having formed between them and his jaw over the summer.

"You too, Sirius," he said, in a casual, although hesitant manner. He ran the back of his knuckles along either side of his own jaw and spoke through a cresting grin. "Did you forget to grab your razor from the bathroom – looking a bit raggedy there…"

Sirius half scoffed and half barked out a laugh.

"Did you remember to pack your stuffed quaffle, Regulus?" said Sirius, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows, "Say you run into Voldemort,"

Sirius licked his smiling lips and gave a jaunting turn of his head, eyebrows lifting aloofly.

"You could take it out and he'd laugh to death."

Regulus nodded and smiled with dangerous patience, "Or you could show him your O.W.L results."

Sirius held a hand to his chest and stepped back.

" _Show an interest in your family_ , Reg," said Sirius, theatrically, a grin sliding into place, "I got _eleven_ O.W.L's."

With that, James tugged on Sirius's arm. The two disappeared behind the brick veil between the muggle and magical worlds, James adamantly following his parents and Sirius grinning as he stepped through backwards.

Regulus stood in place for a moment, an expression of shocked amusement lingering on his face as he stared at the wall. With a shake of his head and the whisper of ' _bleeding moron_ ' he followed his brother through at a brisk, bowed-head pace.

The vacuum left by the boys was quiet, and disjointed.

It took a moment for Katherine and Lily to realise that their departure signalled the girls' turn to too pass through the barrier.

"Ready to go back home?" asked Lily, shifting her grip on the bar of her trolley and eyeing the intimidatingly solid bricks.

A warmth swelled in Katherine's chest and throat, "Always."

Lily's eyes sparked as she spared her friend a sideways glace, kicking off almost like the horse to reach a run.

Katherine nudged her trolley alongside Lily's, her arms fighting to not buckle in their grip on the trolley's bar as her whole body jostled in a run.

The twisting metal of their trolleys where they met the brick wall was as jarring physically as it was mentally.

 _Katherine's magic had never failed her before._

Picking themselves up off the chewing gum dotted ground, the two girls met eyes while dusting down their dresses. The question was communicated non-verbally with their eyes; _what had just happened?_

"What do we do?" came Lily's voice, her voice quivering as her eyes flashed around.

They had been the last to pass through the barrier.

"I…"

The _DING_ of the station clock cut Katherine off and signalled that it was eleven o'clock.

They had missed the train.

"I don't know…" said Katherine, feeling the heat run away from her face.

She thought only of one thing – _to ask Giles_.

Lily's hand went to her hair as she turned in a circle to worriedly scan the rushing crowd around them.

"I could use the telephone booth out front to call my mum…but we might need to catch the bus…"

The memory of the Knight Bus bloomed in Katherine's mind. Her wand felt like a warm piece of hope in her pocket – and all she needed to call for help.

"That's it! We'll take the bus to Hogwarts!"

Lily shook her head at Katherine, frowning, "It'd take _weeks_ – and then, I don't think any muggle buses even _go_ to Hogsmeade."

"Haven't you ever heard of the Knight Bus?" asked Katherine, resisting to urge to bob in joy.

Lily shook her head again, eyeing Katherine unsurely, "No."

"It's a _magic_ bus."

In a non-descript side street a few blocks away from the station, Katherine and Lily stood on the gutter with their heavy trunks – Katherine with her wand outstretched.

Not a second after raising her arm, there was a loud _BANG_ and then a midnight blue bus slowed against the curb.

Lily gripped Katherine's hand, eyes and mouth wide.

Katherine smiled at her friend's wonder for but a moment, but then – once again – her mind turned back to Giles. _Had he looked on as Katherine gaped naively – the daughter of his friends – and felt a strike of pride as she did with Lily?_

A man that, still, strongly resembled a pipe cleaner with eyes, moseyed up to the door from the inside. Like he did a year ago, he leant on the pole and eyed a card in his hand with a bored expression.

Katherine was glad to know that some things never changed – no matter how much she herself had.

"Welcome aboard the Knight Bus; emergency transportation for the stranded witch or wizard," he droned, sighing and blinking, "My name is Dave Jenkins and I will be your conductor this evening."

Dave Jenkins looked up, raised his eyebrows and waved an arm in indication that Katherine and Lily step aboard.

It was as he leapt down onto the patchy grass in his curled-toe magenta boots to pick up their trunk, that he broke from the rehearsed social dance.

"Merlin – yer' her!" Dave Jenkins spat as he spoke, his finger almost landing on Katherine's face as his saliva had done, "Yer' Katherine Spencer!"

Lily glanced between Katherine and Dave Jenkins concernedly.

Katherine fought the urge to wipe her face free from his spit in front of Dave, and her lips tugged up in her startled discomfort.

"Yes," said Katherine, knowing there was no hiding from the photograph regularly across the front page of the Daily Prophet, "Lily and I missed the train and are in quite a rush to get to Hogwarts, if you don't mind…"

Dave Jenkins blinked and nodded rapidly in tandem, "Of course! Of course! We'll do this, er," he leant closer and said, in a voice not much lower, " _Hush, hush_ …yeah?"

Katherine swallowed as she smiled as politely as she could, " _Please_."

Dave waved the two girls on.

"I'll get yer trunks – you two go find a seat upstairs."

Katherine climbed the stairs and then reached for her purse, "What about payment?"

Dave landed Katherine's trunk on the hexagonal chrome with a loud _THUNK_. He wiped his brow and grinned.

"For Miss Katherine Spencer? It's free."

Katherine hesitated, something pulling uneasily in her chest, but then nodded.

Lily frowned, "That doesn't sound like a very solid business plan –"

Katherine cleared her throat and gently took her friend's elbow to whisper, "I didn't get enough out of Gringotts anyway."

Lily suddenly grinned, turning it back on Dave Jenkins.

"In that case – _merci!_ " she waved as Katherine tugged her along the bus to the stairs to the next level.

"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't we?" said Katherine, once out of earshot.

Lily eyed Katherine amusedly as she weaved around a rolling bed, "When did you turn into Black?"

Katherine, almost proving Lily right, let out a bark of laughter – for possibly the first time in her life. _Maybe_ , she thought, _she should spend less time at Quidditch practise the coming term…_

"I'd ask when you turned into Potter –"

Lily's eyes flashed.

Katherine grinned, and pointed.

–"but you're the one speaking French."

Lily rolled her eyes good-naturedly, smiling as she sat gingerly on a seat at the front of the second level, tucking her dress beneath her.

"How long do you think it will take?" asked Lily, looking around aat the muggle world outside of the bus, "And they can't…"

"The bus is concealed," said Katherine, nodding. Thinking on Lily's second question, she shrugged, "And as for how long it will take…It took me about ten minutes from nearby Claremont to the Leaky Cauldron…"

Dave Jenkins, panting and wiping his brow again, emerged from the stairs, reeling off two tickets from the dispenser slung over his shoulder.

"Two to Hogsmeade – estimated time of arrival;" Dave paused to check a fog watch jiggled out from his uniform pocket, "Five pm."

He vanished down the stairwell and there was a rap on glass.

Katherine gripped the arm rests of her chair, "Lily, fair warning –"

Lily's squeal and a thump against the glass alerted Katherine to her insufficient warning before her friend returned to her seat rubbing her cheek.

* * *

Marlene McKinnon bounced into the same compartment she'd ridden to Hogwarts in for six years, "Have I got something to tell you –"

Emmeline Vance, and Emmeline Vance alone, looked up from her book.

"Well, _have_ you?" asked the sleek pony-tailed girl who had only gained more leg length over the summer.

"I…I thought…" Marlene stammered, "Where's Katherine and Lily?"

Emmeline looked around with pale eyes, blinking them at Marlene slowly.

"Not here yet," said Emmeline, returning her eyes to her book, her eyebrows raising, " _Evidently_."

Marlene's eyes latched onto the train station walls vanishing from around the train, "But the train's moving – I thought _I_ was late…"

Emmeline sighed, putting down her book, and frowned at the trunk littering the entrance to the compartment. She stood to her feet.

"Here, let me help with your trunk."

The scent of apple shampoo wafted up from Emmeline's wisp-less ponytail as she bent to get a hold of Marlene's trunk.

Marlene's eyes unwittingly followed the curve of her neck, the supple skin behind her ear, the soft curve of her jaw…

"Thanks." The word was expelled breathlessly.

Marlene crouched in daze, and the two girls heaved from the bottom of the trunk to push it up onto the racks.

Dusting their hands, they were saved from making conversation by a head poking in through their compartment door.

"Katherine –"

Sirius Black's smile ran away from his face and his eyebrows lowered over his piercing gaze in confusion.

Emmeline sat back down, picked up her book, and raised her eyebrows, " _There seems to be a lot of that going around_ ,"

Sirius' hand dropped from the doorway, and he cleared his throat.

" _Katherine's not here yet_." said Emmeline, matter-of-factly, licking her thumb and turning her page.

He raised a hand in a gesture behind himself, "I saw her on the platform, I wanted to…"

In a split second, and with a flash of his eyes, Sirius reorganised himself. He was no longer loose and jovial, but stiff and aloof.

"Nevermind."

Marlene blinked as she watched Sirius stalked away down the hallway, swiping a hand through his hair and glancing back once, frowning.

" _I didn't know he was aware that she had a first name…_ "

Emmeline hummed disinterestedly, but then paused – her eyes no longer moving. Eventually, they lifted – to Marlene.

"So," Emmeline cleared her throat primly, and inclined her head, "How was your summer?"

Marlene fell back against the seat and pinched the bridge of her nose, "My parents drilled me on what to expect from the apparating lessons we have this year."

"Really?" Emmeline sat up, her book closed on her lap.

Marlene closed her eyes, humming.

"Could you…could you tell me – my mother didn't get her license and my dad was busy at work all summer…"

The unsure tone of the swottiest of the Fifth Year Gryffindor Girls wrenched something from Marlene's chest. Resignation, most likely. Because Marlene suddenly felt very forthcoming.

"Oh, er, of course…" Marlene thought for a moment before continuing with her parents' imparted wisdom, "The first step is being completely determined to reach your destination…"

She couldn't help but notice that Emmeline's thigh was pressed against hers, and that the girl's robes were _very_ thin.

 _Maybe_ , thought Marlene, _Lily and Katherine not showing up wouldn't be so bad._

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Timing

* * *

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and no copyright is intended. Everything that you recognise from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for the new favourites, follows, and reviews!**

 **beaniebun; You were the only one to give me feedback on the Marlene/Emmeline development and I'm glad you thought it was sweet – thank you! Sirius is going to be featuring increasingly more throughout the gang's sixth year (but what he was going to ask is a mystery to us all).**

 **hghgteg; I'm glad you enjoyed the twist I've put on the HP series and how I write the characters! A lot of the time, I don't get stuck from posting new chapters with the writing but by just sitting and trying to visualise the characters to make sure I'm doing them justice. To know it's appreciated always boosts me up! Thank you!**

 **readingtilldawn; Welcome to the story! I'm thrilled you like it (And my OC)! :)**

* * *

"Here we are – Hogsmeade!"

Dave Jenkins was already lugging Katherine and Lily's trunks off of the Knight Bus by the time they stood from their chairs; eyes crusted with sleep, and limbs stiff from curling up on the hard seats.

The lights of Hogsmeade quickly woke the girls, despite the absence of the sun that had set on their journey from London to the Scottish Highlands.

Her body jolting from the step down to the uneven pavers of the street outside The Three Broomsticks, Katherine was unprepared for yet another when a piercing breeze blew through her thin summer clothes.

Dave Jenkins swung back up onto the bus and tipped his hat with the hand not gripping the pole, "Have a good year, Miss Spencer!"

Katherine waved as she and Lily hurried along the cobblestone high street of Hogsmeade with their heavy, clunking trunks.

The two only paused at the junction of signs on the edge of town. ' _Hogwarts_ ', ' _Hogsmeade_ ', and ' _Dufftown_ ' were emblazoned on thick timber in gold lettering. They were barely legible in the blue-dark of the early evening, barely aided by the lamp post across the lane.

The castle was already visible up the hill, the Great Hall's windows glowing out like a beacon.

"I was worried I'd never see it again." Katherine managed out through jagged breaths.

Lily laughed through her own heavy breathing, "Come on, the gates shouldn't be more than ten minutes up the path."

The path, that the Thestrals would tug carriages of students along, was empty. But not a smooth journey. The _BANG_ 's from beneath the wheels of the girls' trunks reverberated through their arms and up their spines to their skulls.

Even as they stopped at the closed gates, Katherine's cheeks buzzed on.

It soon became clear that the only company the girls had was from the winged boars on the large pillars either side of the heavy wrought iron gates.

Lily frowned up at the gates triple their heights, "Do we climb it?"

"And get fried?"

"It's not electrified, Katherine…" said Lily, before hesitating, " _Right?_ "

Katherine inspected the innocuous black bars, "Bound to have loads of spells on it though."

"Hang on… is that…" Lily sprung up onto the tips of her toes and started waving with both arms, "Mr Filch! We missed the train! Can you let us through?"

The slinking shadow against the lights spilling out of the Entrance Hall blinked out of view. A smaller shadow, undoubtedly Mrs Norris, followed.

Katherine shook her head, "I never liked him."

Lily sighed, throwing herself down upon her trunk and letting her face fall into her hands.

Katherine, realising that it was now up to her to find a way in, squinted through the thickening darkness.

It was after barely a moment of scanning the castle for anyone else whose attention they might be able to grab, that Katherine spied a new development.

"Lily…someone's coming…"

Lily lifted her face from her hands, and then – at recognising help – sprung to her feet once more.

A long, dark figure stalked towards the gates.

Katherine and Lily shared a sideways glance, neither recognising the figure as a Professor.

Colourless robes swished around shiny shoes as the wizard came to a stop. Eyes like spikes, set into a sallow olive face, narrowed at the girls through the iron bars of the gates.

"Mr Filch seems to think we have two troublemakers at the gate who claim to be students who missed the train…"

Lily bristled and brandished her red badge, "I'm a _Prefect!_ "

The wizard tilted his head.

"A Prefect should be punctual."

"I _usually_ am…" Lily tapered off, her eyes lowering.

"The barrier wouldn't let us through, sir." said Katherine, trying to help their case.

Zabini lowered his chin, and peered down at the girls coolly, "That happens when you're _late_."

"But we weren't!" said Lily, eyes wide and pleading, "We had at least two minutes left – I checked the clock!"

The wizard's penetrating gaze didn't let up from the two girls, but it became edged in dark amusement instead out outright distrust.

"Inability to tell time…should I be writing these down to relay to Professor McGonagall?"

Lily went ashen.

"I met a certain Miss Vance earlier, she was from your house," The Wizard waved a hand and blinked carelessly, "And showed quite a level of… _devotion_ to the rules…"

Scared her friends would shrink out of existence beside her, Katherine stepped forward.

"Please, sir," Katherine tried for her most polite tone, "This is Lily Evans, anyone – student or staff – would recognise her if you brought them out."

His hair glinted like onyx as he turned to fix Katherine with sharp eyes, "And you are?"

Katherine inwardly cringed.

"Katherine Spencer."

His gun-metal gaze hardened.

"I should have known," his upper lip curled back from his teeth, "The level of dissonance… your father had it too."

Ire bubbled at the base of Katherine's neck, quietly, dangerously. She held her tongue, however, and her fists a little tighter.

Lily looked nervously between Katherine and the wizard, "Excuse me, er…"

The wizard bowed his head an increment.

"Professor Zabini."

"Professor Zabini, sir," said Lily, smiling unsurely, "Does this mean we can come through now?"

Zabini's lips thinned, but he nodded.

"Very well,"

He waved his wand over the gates and they opened with a teeth-aching SCREECH. Something flickered above the gates, like a silvery film, as Katherine and Lily hurried across the threshold. _Protection spells_ , Katherine realised, _as she had originally suspected_.

"But do not think you two are in the clear," said Zabini, his eyes like slits, "Expect to hear from your Head of House."

Both Katherine and Lily nodded, chorusing, "Yes, sir."

"What are you waiting for?" Zabini's eyes widened in exasperation and he made a scooting motion with his hands, " _Hurry along_."

The sound of the gates locking shut echoed behind the girls as they scurried up the green lawns.

A steady plume of smoke rose out of Hagrid's cabin and tickled Katherine's nostrils. The insects hummed from behind the trees in the forbidden forest. A million stars glittered and winked over the tallest turrets of the castle, and, perhaps, a million voices chattered behind the sanctuary enclosed behind the Entrance Hall's doors.

A smile rose to Katherine's lips, unbidden.

Lily turned to her as they met the Entrance Hall doors, mirroring the smile.

"Finally…" the words escaped Lily at a sigh. Her shoulders had lost all of their tension.

The warmth of the castle permeated through to the bones as the Entrance Hall doors closed behind them. The last of the students had arrived, and the castle seemed to recognise that it could close it's borders.

Katherine glanced at the doors of the Great Hall, "Should we get changed into our robes…or?"

Lily's lips caught between her teeth, and her eyes scanned the hallway.

"I think _that_ broom cupboard is one of the more roomy ones…" she said, pointing to the door beside the steps that led down to the Dungeons and Kitchens.

Katherine hesitated, "You first?"

Lily undid the latches of her trunk with two swift _CLICK_ s and grabbed her neatly folded uniform on top. She sighed, lit her wand with a whispered _lumos_ , and disappeared into the shallow home of brooms.

Katherine followed suit not barely a minute later, and the two girls were soon robed and brushing spider webs from their shoulders as they closed in on the Great Hall.

"Your mother simply despises me!"

Katherine and Lily shared a look as they parked their trunks outside the doors to the Great Hall.

"No, she doesn't," came Frank Longbottom's voice, hesitant, " _Surely_ …"

Turning around, the girls became privy to an alcove-bound altercation between Alice Fortescue and Frank Longbottom.

Alice's arms were raised, as well as her voice, "She wants a pretty house-witch for you."

"You're pretty, love." said Frank, reaching out a tentative hand to rest on Alice's cheek and bestowing a loving smile on her.

Alice turned her head away, "But not content to sit around barefoot and pregnant, waiting for you to come home from work!"

Frank's hand fell back to his side and his eyes widened.

"And I wouldn't want that for you!" He sighed and hung his head, "I…I think…can't you just pretend until we're married…and then we'll both go into the Auror Department?"

"Oh, she'll never accept me," said Alice, shaking her head, "She'll never be happy unless… unless…"

Alice promptly dissolved into tears.

Frank's expression, however, hardened. Perhaps by the flame in his eyes.

"I'm not breaking up with you."

The words were firm, final.

But even they couldn't stop Alice's fretting.

"No Longbottom man can stand against Augusta – she was a Black once upon a time!"

Frank stepped closer.

"This one will," he said, taking Alice's hand, "And I'm sure our son will be no scrub either."

Alice lifted bloodshot eyes and snotty lips, "Frank, you're…you're…"

"Handsome?"

Despite her best efforts, Alice's lips twitched.

"Charismatic?"

Frank took her other hand and danced her in a small circle.

"Steadfast?"

Alice laughed blearily as they finished a twirl, " _Crazy_."

"Only for you, love." with his words, Frank swept her into his arms.

It was as Katherine watched Frank's lips land softly on Alice's hair that her eyes focused on a shadowed figure further down the hall.

It seemed to be _Katherine's_ turn to be watched.

Sirius Black stalked down the hallway, his eyes piercing Katherine even from their distance. Even though his eyes didn't move from her, his legs kept on, and he soon slowed in front of her.

Sirius flicked his wrist, brandishing his newly exposed section of skin.

"This is a watch." he said, pointing at the gold band and watch face.

Katherine closed her eyes and smiled, recognising the passive-aggressive yet amused tone he carried. She opened them again to find him still looking at her, head tilted and eyebrows raised.

"Come on, we'll miss the sorting." said Lily, hooking an arm through Katherine's.

Sirius loped on Katherine's other side and, as a trio, they pushed through the doors to the Great Hall.

Katherine leant closer to him and whispered, "Don't mention anything about time in front of Lily."

Sirius too leant closer, now smiling, his eyes glittering.

"Terrible accident involving a clock?" he asked lightly. He gave an inciting turn of his head, raising his eyebrows goadingly, "A…cuckoo one, perhaps?"

Katherine laughed, "Just missing the train."

Sirius frowned, his face falling into solemness.

"How'd you get here, then?"

Katherine shrugged, "Knight Bus."

Sirius blinked, and his eyes became keen, his head turning completely to Katherine and away from watching where he was walking down the side of the Gryffindor table.

"You're familiar with the Knight Bus?"

Katherine's response drifted to the back of her mind as her eyes settled on a familiar throng of Gryffindors.

A fluffy-haired, puffy eyed Prefect…A mass of brown curls and a round face…Messy jet-black hair and glasses…A sleek black ponytail…A pudgy – less so than the previous year – boy with large front teeth…

James did a double take before raising his eyebrows at Sirius and smiling, "So you found them?"

Katherine's chest spasmed as she looked beside herself to Sirius.

"You were looking for us?"

Sirius swallowed, shrugging as he took a seat on the bench beside James.

James grinned over his shoulder, lowering his chin conspiratorially, "Went mental with worry, he did –"

Sirius elbow and eyes buried into James' side.

"James, shut it."

Remus smiled tiredly at the two. He then glanced mirthfully at Katherine before turning back to James.

"Yeah – you say that as if you hadn't conducted a census of the last time everyone at the Gryffindor table had seen them not five minutes ago."

James' eyes flashed to Lily who was seating herself beside Marlene.

She, along with the rest of the sixth year Gryffindors, laughed.

James slung an arm around Peter, patting him on the chest with the other, "Peter, you're my one true friend, you are…"

"Shh!" Emmeline glared at James, "The First Years are about to be sorted."

James sighed, but watched the front of the hall quietly with everyone else.

Before the horde of eleven year olds in colourless Hogwarts robes, the Sorting Hat broke into song.

 _Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folks use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

The light-hearted jingle was considerably better received than the previous year's, and the sorting commenced with the clearing of Professor McGonagall's throat and the calling of "Abbey, Georgia!"

Soon enough, Katherine's hands tired from clapping, and Gryffindor had ten new members to their house. Twelve, if Katherine were to count Frank and Alice who snuck in towards the end of the sorting and took their seats.

"Now… to our new students, welcome! To our old students, welcome back!" Dumbledore greeted, "Another year of magical education awaits you,"

Dumbledore smiled over the Hall.

"There are some start of term notices;" Dumbledore declared, "First of all, I would like you all to welcome Professor Zabini to our school, he will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher,"

Polite clapping sounded around the Great Hall.

Katherine's throat constricted and an eye-prickling thought knocked around her skull. _How dare he – How dare he stand where Giles stood…_

Zabini stood, his robes so dark that Katherine wondered if he'd vanish from the spectrum of visibility. He gave a curt bow and seated himself once more quickly.

McGonagall shifted in her seat beside him, lips pursed, and hands barely moving in a clap.

"Moving on…Mr Filch would also like me to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is in fact forbidden," Dumbledore continued on, "And without further ado, let the _feast_ begin!"

At his words, the four house tables became flooded with food, the Hall filled with the chatter of students who hadn't seen each other for a whole summer. Gold goblets bubbled to the brim with juice and water, glazed turkeys and roast vegetables popped onto extravagant trays in the middle of the table.

The ghosts combed the table, as well as prompt conversation.

"Hello, Alice," said Katherine with a smile, "Good summer?"

Alice glanced at Frank – locked in conversation with James, and smiled, "Yeah, you?"

"Best yet." said Katherine, not needing to lie. Even though the majority was miserable, those three days at Lily's were concentrated with enough enjoyment for Katherine's words to be true.

The conversation dimmed at the steady _CLICK – CLACK_ of boots from behind Katherine.

Lily gulped down a mouthful of tomato soup, her eyes widening and her hands jumping to her napkin.

Katherine turned at the prim clearing of a throat to find Professor McGonagall peering down from above her pursed lips, a feather quivering along the brim on her conical hat.

"Professor Dumbledore has requested you come to his office at eight, Miss Spencer," said McGonagall, her stern gaze lifting to each sixth year of her house in turn, "Enjoy your meal,"

She bowed her head and turned, her emerald robes glinting under the candlelight.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief and went to say –

"Oh," Professor McGonagall turned back, and her large green eyes found Katherine with unnerving accuracy. There was something indecipherable flickering and mulling in her gaze, her lips twitching, "And welcome back."

This time, when McGonagall swept off, the doors of the Great Hall closed behind her in finality.

While the majority of their section of the table laughed at and jeered Lily, Sirius' shoulder sunk against Katherine's.

"Here," his voice was soft, like his touch as he reached for her wrist and his hair as it tickled her cheek.

He smoothly transferred his gold watch from his wrist to hers.

It hung loosely with the weight of its expense, the midnight blue accents of the face whirling and glimmering like a metallic liquid.

His eyes gleamed and his lips pulled into the boyish grin she'd first spied when they were fleeing Hogsmeade the previous term.

"You don't want to be late again." he explained himself.

"Too bad mum's not here to spell your hair back again so Remus and Pete can see it… she was so glad to find it worked and that I was just a hopeless case…"

Sirius' head snapped up at James' words. His smile became daring, and his eyes took on a sarcastic squint.

His hand left Katherine's.

"Sod off!" his words lost their edge with his barking laugh that followed.

Katherine glanced down at Sirius' watch, "Oh, I best be going…it's getting on…"

"We'll come with you." said Lily, scrunching up her napkin and leaving it in her bowl with her spoon.

Marlene rose from the bench, apologising to Emmeline as she nudged her. When she joined Katherine, she was uncharacteristically pink in the face and neck.

"We want to beat the first years back before they flood the common room, so we'll be along in a minute." said Remus, offering Lily a smile.

Lily rested a hand on her fellow Prefect's shoulder as she passed, patting it, before joining Katherine in her walk to the doors.

James didn't seem to have a thing to say, for once.

Katherine wished she could say the same for Griselda Greengrass, who couldn't help but make her presence known as the group of students reached the fifth floor from the moving staircases.

"Run into any Death Eaters lately?"

Something pulled at Katherine's jaw.

Lily threw a caustic glare over her shoulder and linked arms with Katherine, "Sod off, Greengrass."

"Nothing to say without your beloved Professor Giles around to keep you out of trouble?"

Katherine stopped.

And so did the conversation in the hallway around her and Griselda Greengrass.

Her hand slipped inside her robes to where she kept her wand as she whipped around. With her wand pressing into Griselda's slender throat at lightning speed, Katherine fixed the girl in place with her most sincere glare.

Gasps erupted all around the two girls.

Griselda gulped, her brown eyes wide.

"Curse me and my Father will hear about it!" she wobbled out, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Katherine resisted what would surely sound to be the laugh of a lunatic. There was no possible way to laugh in an amused, angry, and contempt-filled way all at once.

"Maybe your Dad can pass along the message to Voldemort's fanatics? Since he was in his pocket?"

Lily's grip on the back of Katherine's robes became apparent as Katherine felt a backwards tug.

Familiar faces bobbed into view at the front of the crowd surrounding the girls.

"Well at least I have a Father!"

A jet of pink light shot from Katherine's wand, uninhibited.

Giggles immediately broke out in the students surrounding the pair.

Griselda Greengrass' lips had started spontaneously growing with no sign of stopping. The Slytherin gripped at her lips as she stumbled back, them fast approaching her knees.

Katherine might have felt pity for the girl, who always seemed to be the recipient of a disfiguring hex, if she wasn't so filled with derision for the Slytherin. Especially in that moment.

Sirius, among the others that had been walking with Katherine, hadn't tried to hold her back. He had stood beside her, his own wand raised.

Katherine narrowed her eyes at Greengrass as she lowered her wand, "You've got a big mouth for someone with no spine."

She turned away, a hand on her elbow stalling her exit.

Sirius looked down at her, his gaze smouldering like ashes. There was a question in the minute lift of his eyebrows and the proud twitch of his lips – ' _are you okay?_ '

Katherine nodded, managing a tight smile.

Sirius relinquished his hold, looked around at Katherine's remaining audience and blinked.

"Go on – back to your dormitories," he shooed, shooting Katherine a deft wink, "Lest you want to be next..."

Like herding cattle, James and Sirius rounded up the onlookers and pushed from behind in the direction of the adjoining hallway.

No matter how adept the two boys were, a few stragglers latched onto Katherine.

" _That was brilliant, Katherine!"_

" _Greengrass was bang out of order!"_

" _I never would have thought of using that engorgement charm!"_

Katherine brushed off the praise with tight smiles to the younger students before continuing on her way. She left both shocked and impressed students in her wake, their whispers seeming to follow her all the way up to Dumbledore's office.

Just as she caught her breath from the evening, she found herself standing in front the heavy oak doors of Dumbledore's office. A not all together pleasant feeling of déjà vu washed over Katherine like a poorly cast disillusionment charm.

She raised her hand through a heavy tar-like burst of melancholy. Back at the castle, she too often encountered a sensation like an ice pick through the space behind her ear. Like a whisper from beyond, always the same – " _Giles_ …". It punctured her composure, stole her breath – and her ability to stand.

But she knocked anyway.

The response was a swift and soft, "Come in."

The silver instruments still whirred. Fawks still preened on her perch. And Dumbledore still sat behind his desk. Giles, however, wasn't seated in the chair beside the one Katherine parked her backside on.

"Sherbet lemon?" said Dumbledore, predictably.

Katherine bowed her head, "No, thank you, sir."

Dumbledore twisted one open for himself.

"I suppose you're wondering why I've asked you here this evening…" he paused to suck his lolly, "I have a…request to make of you, Katherine,"

Dumbledore lowered his chin and gazed over the top of his half-moon spectacles, "I want you to use your rapport with your potions professor to obtain some important information."

"Information?" said Katherine.

Dumbledore nodded gravely.

"Something that _without_ , I'm afraid, we cannot hope to succeed in bringing peace to our world."

Katherine hesitated, suddenly fearful at the enormity of such a task, "What… what do you need to know?"

"Professor Slughorn has an uncanny knack of weaselling into the confidences of many a student," Dumbledore blinked, "Even…Tom Riddle."

The name felt like a shot to the heart.

Rage quickly puttied up the hole, however.

It was almost inconceivable to think of the wizard who tortured her, who had killed her parents, who had killed Giles – that _he_ had slept in the castle's dormitories, ate at its tables, perhaps even laughed in it's classrooms.

Her voice didn't sound like her when she went to use it again, "Because you think he's going to come back?"

Dumbledore lowered his solemn gaze to the ashes below Fawks' perch.

"Regrettably."

Katherine nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears, "What do you need me ask about?"

"Even you know that you can't be so daring as to plainly _ask_ ," said Dumbledore, his eyes now on a far off vision – a thought far in the recesses of his vast mind, "But, you need to discover everything Tom Riddle might have learnt about Horcruxes."

"He has them."

Dumbledore blinked, "I beg your pardon?"

"He told me, last term." said Katherine, recalled the fateful day in early June.

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore waved an impatient hand, gazing imploringly across at Katherine.

His hands balled on his desk with his urgency.

"But we need to know how _many_ …what he might have _used_ …"

 _He hadn't mentioned Giles_ , Katherine noticed. He didn't ask how she was. Nor if she had anything she wanted to discuss with him about her summer, about her Aunt.

 _Maybe he was the accomplished Legillimens he was rumoured to be_ , she mused.

 _Or_ , perhaps, _he simply didn't care_.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)**

 **The next update might be a little ways off because I want to go back through the existing chapters and tighten the whole story up before continuing. I'll do my best to be swift!**


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